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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (2990)	11/4/2008 7:26:16 AM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 86355

Uh.. I don't think that's how eminent domain works.. There has to be fair compensation. And how that compensation is determined is quite likely the last assessed value of the property. And that property assessment, generated for state and local tax purposes, are probably grossly exaggerated relative to actual market value. I have a relative that was an eminent domain attorney for the state. Believe me, both sides fight every step of the way for every penny. Do they reach fair value? Probably close to it most of the time... but this is completely wrong: Sounds to me like Florida's version of the TARP bailout for depressed real-estate. Those high voltage transmission lines require land 1/8 to 1/4 mile wide because nobody wants to live close to them. Running 100's of miles, much more disruptive than building a highway. Some is public land but most is private... it's very expensive.

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (2990)	11/4/2008 7:29:38 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86355

Insights Oil, Gas and Wires Peter Huber 10.29.08, 6:00 PM ET Forbes Magazine dated November 17, 2008 ... A single 765,000-volt transmission line can move about 1% of the total average U.S. electric load. Thousands of miles of these lines are already up and running. It will take another 22,000 miles to knit the existing wires together into a national grid. This backbone will be able to move about 25% of our current electricity consumption over distances that span significant fractions of the continent. Electrical losses will be modest, because very high voltage lines are fantastically efficient. The backbone will cost $75 billion to build. It will add about 0.3 cents of transmission cost per kilowatt-hour to the retail price of electricity, which currently averages about 9 cents. By pooling demand, the backbone will let cheap power chase high demand around the clock and across the country. It will let inexpensive coal, uranium, water behind a dam or (eventually) wind, sun and other renewables displace expensive gas-fired power. It will lower the capital cost of electricity by allowing fuller use of billion-dollar power plants, much as filling every seat on a jumbo jet lowers the average cost of flying. A plant located in (say) Lebanon, Kans., the geographic center of the country, will be within easy reach of peak loads on both coasts and everywhere in between. By pooling supply and demand nationwide, the backbone will cut the average cost of generating electricity by somewhere between 30% and 50%. And it will reduce it still more over the longer term, by allowing producers to locate power plants where the land is cheap, the neighbors are friendly, the coal, uranium, gas, wind or sun is most readily available, the ecosystems are durable and the obstructive lawyers are scarce. By providing cheap access to the cheapest power, a backbone grid will also accelerate electrification. Plug-in hybrid cars will recharge mainly at night. Heating loads peak at night, too. Using idle capacity in plants and wires to compete in these two big, oil-dependent sectors will further level out supply and demand and thus further lower the cost of electricity. ... forbes.com