UD/TDC's Newark Power Plant Update

TDC - data storage hub with 100 percent reliability?

(Newark Post) Karie Simmons reports ~ Second opinion confirms power plant's 'accessory use'

Under city zoning, electric generation is permitted on the STAR Campus site if it is “incidental and subordinate to the use of the main building on the same lot.” Otherwise, council would have to approve a special use permit. Some residents, however, don’t agree the energy hub is necessary for the data center to function, and discussions continue on the specifics behind The Data Centers, LLC’s proposed facilities and site plan.
.........officials claimed they are not a building a power plant because they do not plan to sell power back to the grid, to which a group of residents said aloud at the meeting, “But you are.” TDC Vice President Andrea Wolf stated earlier in the information session that of the 248 megawatts generated, the power plant will generate 50 megawatts of reserve power for backup and emergency situations, which TDC will sell to the grid. “I think a lot of people caught on to that one,” [Amy] Roe said.

Baumbach said many citizens have approached him to say TDC’s statement that the closest residence to the data center and power plant is a half mile away is untrue, noting that they live much closer. Kern argued Monday this was a misunderstanding and that the site is a half mile from residents who live on the other side of Christiana Parkway. The closest house to the edge of the property line is 380 feet away, however the power plant’s turbines would be a quarter-mile away from the nearest residence, he said.

And Bloom Energy plans to power data centers elsewhere according to (DE Inc.) Aaron Nathans ~ Bloom Energy Japan targeting big power users 

The CEO of Bloom Energy’s opera­tions in Japan says the company is targeting big power users like office buildings, data centers and manu­facturing facilities. Shigeki Miwa, CEO of Bloom Energy Japan Ltd., said that after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, there’s a value to decen­tralized power, according to FuelFix­.com. Bloom Energy Japan is a joint venture between Bloom, based in Cali­fornia, and SoftBank Corp., a major wireless telephone carrier. It was formed in July to expand Bloom’s oper­ations to Japan.
Bloom has opened a manufacturing facility in Newark, on the site of the former Chrysler plant. It makes solid­oxide fuel cell servers, which run on natural gas by using an electrochemical reaction. 

Meanwhile, Doug Rainey has published a meanspirited and overwhelmingly false editorial clumping concerned Newark townspeople in with his idea of job-killing enviros ~ Viewpoint: NIMBY sentiments damage job creation efforts 

The project drew little attention until summer. By that time, a handful of  foes  had emerged, obviously upset over the  natural  gas-fired generators that could put a portion of the plant’s power back into the electric grid. (Doug's ridiculous contortion of the notion that the plant is not accessory if it intends to sell power back to the grid and is therefore not compliant with Newark's land use code) 

They were also bruised by the less-than-kind treatment from workers and management at the Delaware City Refinery over their efforts to oppose a new environmental permit  for the site. (They? Who's They?  Doug is conflating opposition to DNREC's circumventing the Coastal Zone Act permitting for the PBF refinery with opposition to TDC from residents of Newark whose homes and quality of life are threatened by their proposed utility-scale power plant and piling on with some notion of "bruising" as if anyone gives a crap that labor fights for labor)

Far too  many  hold the view that the refinery should be shut down and  end direct and indirect employment for 1,000 or more workers.(Doug is pulling this notion out of his ass. No one wanted the refinery shut down. That is a lie. Enviros want the state to follow the law of the land and permit the refinery through the Coastal Zone process - the desired outcome was never a shuttered plant, it was a fair review and negotiation for environmental offsets provided for in the Act.)

They turned to the Data Centers project, claiming that the city had not been forthcoming about discussions with the company that has an agreement with an entity of the University of Delaware. (Again, back and forth with the They between the refinery and the power plant as if the two were the same subset of issues. And Doug refuses to lend credence to the concerns about how "we" got into this already-zoned-for-a-utility-scale power plant on the University of Delaware Campus in the heart of the town. The city was sneaking around behind everyone's back under a guise of a confidentiality agreement? Not even Council was to be told by Planning Director Lopata that the new special zoning category they approved was to eliminate them from having any say in the matter?) 

After some back and forth, a public information meeting was held last week that attracted upwards of 400 people. The meeting generated an estimated 200 questions that were discussed in a moderator format without the raucous public hearing sought by opponents. (Doug presents yet another despicable lie in characterizing Newark residents as if we objected to the format chosen by moderator State Rep. Baumbach.) 

When compared to the difficult job of running a refinery, The Data Centers project could be a model “green” project generating  upwards of 600 jobs and perhaps more from data companies. The natural gas plant could be the cleanest in the country if carbon dioxide is removed. But that did not stop opponents from  throwing everything against the wall in terms of real and imagined  environmental  and quality of life problems. (It is specious at its core to depict the intentions of residents of Newark in this way.) 

.........The  Data Centers project has a long ways to go and it is easy to believe that if push comes to shove, the General Assembly and other units of government will remove any not in my backyard roadblocks. (Oh yeah, wanna bet? You feel the legislature would act naturally on behalf of the University of Delaware vs. the town of Newark?) 

A couple of legislators are playing to the  crowd, but that is to be expected. (Doug yet again doesn't hesitant in throwing out the insults and innuendos and our respected elected leadership right under the bus) 

But in a way,  serious damage has already been done. (yes, Newarkers have lost faith in their city government for sneaking in a zoning code for the University which neatly undermines our right to have elected representation of Council process this utility-scale power plant plan in the heart of the town.)

The ability of  small groups to stir up the community has to be a worrisome development in efforts to bring jobs to the state. (Doug echoes the Chamber of Commerce here in positing as desirable the squelching of civil rights by - OHMYGOD - community organizing.) 

We can ill afford to let these  efforts drown out the common sense views of a majority of residents who want to rebuild the state’s economy. (uhm, Doug employs yet another despicable divide and conquer meme by couching this as enviros vs jobs. Where are the facts to show a majority of residents would favor the suffering of their neighbors under these circumstances?) 

It is time for supporters of job-creating projects  to immediately answer the critics who too often get a free ride for their job-killing positions.

On facebook, I called Doug out as a wanker for writing this piece and he wrote back whining that I was calling him names. Doug, it is time, rather, for supporters of civil and property rights to immediately answer those critics who so often get a free ride for their jobs-at-any-cost mentality.  :-)

Doug Rainey's piece acts as a response to this letter published yesterday ~ Harker fails to make case for Newark Data Center 

Thanks to University of Dela­ware President Patrick Harker for giving the lie to the Path to Prominence. As your letter to Rep. John Kowalko makes abun­dantly clear, those guiding prin­ciples you spent so much money promoting are a lot of hot air. Delaware first? The Data Cen­ter’s own people mentioned cap­turing between 45 percent and 100 percent of the 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide it will produce a day. What will they do if they can’t sell or store it all? What about all the other pollutants and toxins it will produce that you failto mention?Isn’tit a bit more important when it happens in the middle of 30,000 people? Di­versity? Partnership? Engage­ment? He never once made an effort to engage the community. In his mind and letter to Rep. Ko­walko, the facility always “will” be whatever point you’re mak­ing. It’s a done deal. The con­cerns of Rep. Kowalko’s constit­uents, the citizens of Newark, are his problem not yours. And why should they be? He doesn’t live here. The potential for noise and pollution and lower proper­ty values isn’t part of your pic­ture. Even Mayor Funk, slouch­ing around behind the backs of the people to help you put this one over, is tough enough to stick it out. But what about Pat? So thanks for the preview of the coming hot air. Can we stop wasting money on banners and the torturous syntax of public relations fluff now?

Thomas Pulhamus

Newark

And my comment ~

I hope this is the first of hundreds of letters to the editor expressing anger over the process and people who brought us where we are today: a humongous power plant in Newark neighborhoods' backyard.

NIMBY indeed. Who knew so many activists reside under the shadow of the old Chrysler plant? We now know that hundreds of the impacted residents are boots-on-the-ground to the issue and will show up at meetings. We also need everyone to write letters.

Newark neighbors, please join me in writing to UD President Harker, DNREC Secretary O'Mara and Governor Jack Markell and express your concerns about being suddenly faced with the seemingly inevitable reality of living next door to a power plant. 

There is a lot more to hash out fact vs fiction. Stay tuned.

~*~