Get the REAL numbers behind Transource’s IEC Energy Project:
“Office of Consumer Advocate estimates the net effect to PA to be $514M in increased wholesale electricity prices.”
“In their rush to introduce a new benefit for the IEC, Transource admitted the attached spreadsheet into the public domain. It clearly shows how PJM zones were excluded from the analysis. All of the zones with positive (black) numbers in column B are omitted from the calculation of benefits that happens in column C. This includes PA zones PECO, METED, PLGRP and PENELEC. Part of the APS zone is in Pennsylvania, as well as DUQ, so with those zones prorated, the Office of Consumer Advocate estimates the net effect to PA to be $514M in increased wholesale electricity prices.”
Your electric bill is about to go up – If the IEC Powerline project is approved, pennsylvania and delmarva electric customers will pay more.
Latest News Update
February 23, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – CITIZENS TO STOP TRANSOURCE
[UPDATE] Late-night evidence submission pushes an additional $200M in cost on Pennsylvanians.
In a surprise move at hearings in Harrisburg on Friday, Transource Pennsylvania LLC was forced to reveal new estimates of the financial impact of their two new proposed high voltage lines through York and Franklin counties (IEC). The new figures raise the projected electrical rate increase in Pennsylvania rates from $350M to over $500M (NPV over 15 years).
Transource took the highly unusual move of introducing new evidence at the last minute possible hoping that new rules approved by FERC would improve the evaluation of the project. Regional grid operator PJM reran simulations with the new rules and found that the projected drain of power from Pennsylvania to the Washington DC market had increased. The new simulation projects $982M in electrical cost reductions for the DC market, but $969M in increases elsewhere, including over $514M in electric rate cost increases in Pennsylvania alone.
Citizens to Stop Transource VP Barron Shaw stated: “Transource doubled-down on their bet that Pennsylvania would approve a project that effectively drains low-priced electricity from Pennsylvania in order to subsidize the wealthiest counties in the nation. This project was bad before, and it is even worse now. The PUC would be nuts to approve this project.”
The new data also highlighted how PJM rules have been manipulated to score the project. While Transource has been claiming $700, $800, and $900 million in future savings, the new data shows how PJM has ignored price increases and only looked at price decreases. The attached spreadsheet was submitted into evidence and is now publicly available. It shows how PJM ignores rate increases to derive its new rate savings number.
The new numbers also show the true cost of the project, as Transource is projected to recover $57M every year throughout the life of the project. The scoring shows the cost of the project has increased to $452M. Transource stands to recover all project costs plus a profit of 10.4%, even if the project is canceled or rejected.
If all benefits and costs were to be included, the total benefit of the project would be negative $439M NPV over the next 15 years. The Office of the Consumer Advocate (OCA), a state agency charged with protecting Pennsylvania ratepayers sees the case as precedent-setting, and has called for a rejection of the project “with prejudice.”
Citizens to Stop Transource calls on the PUC to move quickly to protect the citizens of Pennsylvania and reject the Independence Energy Connection.
For more information, please contact Barron Shaw at barron@shaworchards.com
Citizens to STOP Transource fights to protect our Southern York County and Northern Harford County communities from the Transource Independence Energy proposed high-tension power lines.