Kansas has bowed to environmental extremist. Governor Sebelius vetoed a bill that would have opened a path way for building a coal fired plant with two 700 megawatt generators. She is concerned about CO2. So if you think that the global warming nut-cases are only a threat, think again.

Building new power plants does not change the demand for electricity. So her concern is misplaced unless it is her plan to increase electricity prices so much that demand drops. By building a new power plant that uses clean coal technology, Kansas could have reduced pollution by using the new power plant on a full time basis and using some of the older plants only during peak usage.

Governor Sebelius says that there was not enough commitment to alternative renewable sources…like what I have no idea. This one proposed plant will produce as much electric power as all of the wind power in Texas, the countries largest producer of wind power.

I realize that most people do not understand electricity. There is one basic principal that everyone should realize about power companies. They produce a product exactly at the time it is demanded. There is virtually no power storage. Electric companies can not product electricity and put it in a big battery somewhere.

This has several implications. As a system, there must be enough capacity ready to go online in a very short period of time to keep up with demand. If the generators cannot keep up with demand, the generators will start to slow down. The consequence of this would be devastating — think massive black out.

The capacity has to be dependable. Solar is a joke. Hydro only works in areas with rivers and mountains. A place like Kansas has very few alternatives. Wind is not dependable. A couple of weeks ago, the wind stopped in Texas and caused a limited black out. Grid operators realize this and demand a backup source for suppliers that use wind. This backup could be as high as 75% of the total wind power capacity. In other words, you have to build all those wind mill PLUS build a power plant as a reliable source. What a waste of money.

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