by Joe Gervais
Since the 2020 election and installation of Biden as President of the United States, we have seen a number of policies put in place that do not make America great, to the contrary, they destroy America. On day one we saw a number of executive orders that destroyed our energy independence. We also saw construction on the border wall suspended with an unprecedented flow of drugs and illegal immigrants. It is this policy direction that awakened me and motivated me to run for public office.
Earlier this week, I read of the challenges our grid operator ISO New England is facing due to the Democrat’s America Last policy. The majority of our electricity in New England comes from natural gas-powered plants. ISO New England is facing shortages of fuel and is announcing that there likely will be rolling blackouts during periods of peak demand this winter.
This is similar to the situation in England, where the grid operator announced the likelihood of power outages from 4 pm to 7 pm during the coldest days of January and February.
Some will say that we are facing this because we haven’t deployed enough renewable energy. Renewables are about seven percent of the ISO NE generation capability. The reality is that large-scale deployment of renewables creates tremendous stress on the grid and requires widescale deployment of battery banks to smooth out the disparity between peak generation hours and peak demand hours. Extrapolating from a recent article I read, deploying 16 hours of battery capacity across the US grid is a three trillion-dollar challenge.
The reality is that the shortage is a choice that the Biden administration has made. With supply disruptions in Europe over the Ukrainian war and destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, our administration has chosen to prioritize the sale of liquified natural gas to Europe to the detriment of American citizens. This was reiterated by White House officials in a Reuters article last week. This is no different than the sale of our strategic oil reserves to the highest bidder, which includes the Chinese firm Sinopec, in which Hunter Biden has held a financial interest through his private equity firm BHR Partners.
Elections have consequences. Are we going to continue to elect politicians who serve with their own self-interests, or are we going to elect America First public servants?
Joe Gervais of Arlington is the Republican candidate for the Vermont House of Representatives in the Bennington-4 district.
Categories: Commentary
Well said, Joe! Thank you for this common sense article about the consequences of the policies that put our own energy needs at such risk.
Why is the green, renewable, and inexpensive power from our northern neighbor, Hydro Quebec, never mentioned? Green Mountain Power pays in excess of 20 cents per kwh for locally generated green power (and charges its other customers for those costs). Meanwhile, HQ has offerred Vermont all the power it can use for one third that cost (6 cents/kwh). And if Vermont can justify 30% of its power being generated by HQ (as it is now), why not 60%… or 80%?
And if anyone is honestly concerned that getting our power from a foreign source (right next door) can be problematic, explain why its okay that our very own Green Mountain Power is a subsidiary of HQ and why HQ was allowed to purchase the dozen or so hydro dams on the CT River from Great River Hydro.
Keep in mind that HQ is the fourth largest energy producer in the world – it’s looking for markets – and its our neighbor.
The “green energy ” world hyrdo power is as dirty as fossil fuel. They think the damns constructed to generate the power do more damage than good. That’s why it isn’t pushed. Their opinion not mine
One of the reasons (if not the greatest reason) Vermont’s energy policies are so bent out of shape is because those energy policies are rigged. Pure cronyism. Consider that one of the three Public Utility Commissioners who determine this energy policy is the appointed commissioner, Margaret Cheney.
Ms. Cheney has no qualifications to make these decisions. She’s a former magazine feature writer and part-time Spanish teacher.
Why is she a PUC commissioner? Because her husband, Peter Welch, sits on various federal energy committees. Welch relies on special interest campaign funding and has been recently shown to have engaged in, and profited personally from, this cronyism.
If Vermont had not been so fast to close Vernon Nuclear we would be in a stronger position with regard to electric generation.