From the editorial page of the Williamson County Sun.
"When the electric mess
erupted late last year,
we began working
to tell you what was
happening, and how
it happened. It was tough going, because the city has a policy of keeping the workings of
the electric department secret,
mainly on the premise that the
city competed with other electric providers and shouldn’t play
with cards exposed.
Most of us accepted the secrecy, trusting that our council and
staff would do the right thing
on our behalf. We were misinformed.
It is now clear that the movement to go
100 percent renewable was able to advance
with no apparent challenge, because the
true facts were closely held, and we citizens
heard only the utopian promises of cheap,
fixed-price electricity for 25 years to come.
When the bubble burst last November,
and everyone finally realized what a mess it was, we started asking questions. Everyone already knew the city had signed on to
buy twice as much wind and solar power as
we use, planning to sell the surplus on the
open market. But the city had never made
clear the financial risk this 100 percent plan
exposed us to.
By the time the wind farm started up in
October 2015, natural gas prices had been
in a slow decline for years and electricity
prices had become so low that the city immediately started losing money on its sale
of surplus power.
Since the low gas price was the cause of
the problem, our reporter, Charlotte Kovalchuk, asked Jim Briggs, utility manager at
the time, how high the price of natural gas
had to go before we stopped losing money.
Mr. Briggs declined to answer, saying
that if he did, she might be able to calculate
the price of our wind and solar contracts.
These prices were secret and could not be
divulged.
The solar and wind contracts have
non-disclosure clauses that prevent the city
from releasing the contract prices.
These clauses are, in reality, gag orders
on everyone who joins the staff or council
for the next 23 years. It’s CIA-grade secrecy, and to what purpose? To keep you from knowing a price that anyone can
look up on the internet. Yes, it’s
that simple.
In May, the U.S. Energy Information Administration posted
on its website the annual statistical report for 2018 on 5,343
electricity plants in the U.S. The
report lists the annual production of each plant and how much
money it brought in. For Buckthorn solar with its single customer, Georgetown, and for the
Spinning Spur 3 wind farm with
only two customers, Georgetown and Garland, it’s easy to
calculate the price we pay. Below
are the numbers.
Buckthorn Solar farm
Megawatt hours sold: 198,020
Revenue: $8,975,000
Per megawatt hour: $45.32
Spinning Spur 3 wind farm
Megawatt hours sold: 845,262
(Garland and Georgetown combined)
Revenue: $21,115,000
Per megawatt hour: $24.98
So now you have the secret numbers. $25
for wind and $45 for solar. What good is that?
Not much, in and of itself.
Sources in the Texas power industry tell
me that everyone in the industry knows
about Georgetown’s predicament. And
those who want to know — do know — the
financial details.
In the end, it appears the city’s policy of
secrecy is aimed primarily at its own citizens.
Since the price is publicly available, why
do the wind and solar companies, and the
city, persist in keeping the contracts secret?
Why can’t they agree to a contract amendment that deletes the non-disclosure clause?
Or, if the city were to release the contracts unilaterally, what harm could the
companies claim if they wanted to sue us?
The price is public knowledge — is there
something else in the contracts potentially
more damaging if it were known?
As it stands today, this electric mess is the
biggest financial debacle in Georgetown’s
history. I’m convinced this would not have
happened had there been open, honest discussion about the details, discussion about
how this 100 percent idea might actually
work in the real world.
Someone might have pointed out that,
however good it sounded in theory, it
couldn’t work in reality without spending
a great deal of ratepayer money. Which is
what we’re doing.
Georgetown would be well served if our
city council would move city policy away
from this bias towards secrecy."
Stay tuned, there is more to come!
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