The JS’ Tom Content has an interesting story today about the mess at the We Energies Oak Creek power plant. In short, the plant doesn’t work for a lot of the time. (The good news is that the coal monstrosity’s nonfunctionality means it is polluting less.)
Ratepayers are paying significantly larger bills to pay for the problem-plagued plant. Yes, we get to pay truckloads of money for something that isn’t working yet! We Energies promises that the many fixes needed won’t hit ratepayers’ bills, too. From the story:
… customer groups remain troubled, and auditors at the Public Service Commission are looking into the problems as part of their audit of the company’s pending rate case.
The recurring problems raise the question of whether the utility should have accepted the keys to the plant when it did, said Charlie Higley, executive director of the Wisconsin Citizens’ Utility Board, which represents residential and small business customers.
“When you lease a car, you lease one that works. You wouldn’t want to pay for a car that’s not working under a lease arrangement,” Higley said. “That’s the same analogy that should be applied here. The ratepayers should not be paying for this plant until it’s properly operating.”
Higley has a great point. Why didn’t We Energies find the problems before it accepted the keys and turned on the juice? When did We Energies find the debris the story refers to? (Full disclosure: I’m on the CUB Board. This blog, though, is independent.)
Can ratepayers get a partial refund on construction costs?
The story relies for perspective on Charlie Higley, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, which represents mostly residential ratepayers before the Public Service Commission and in the courts. CUB is a small, statewide organization that relies heavily on donations from members.