Great political leadership sometimes requires elected officials to rise above negativity. They must get through the noise of inaccurate, self-serving arguments and do what’s right for the majority of the people they serve.
If our Founding Fathers had thought demagoguery was the way to sustain society, they would have set up a government that reacted only to the whims of the people. But in their infinite wisdom, they knew that the people are too easily subjected to passion and narrow interests for the common good to prevail. That is why they set up a representative republic.
The proposed Invenergy central electrical generating plant in Burrillville has brought out the weakness in our elected officials, starting with Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, and more recently, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin.
Governor Raimondo, once a strong supporter of the proposed power plant, became quieter as the NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) grew louder.
The governor was present at the announcement of the Invenergy proposal more than two years ago. She showed support for an “all-of-the-above” approach to solving our predicament of high electrical energy costs, including supporting offshore wind power, energy efficiency, renewable energy, new technology and replacing people on the Public Utilities Commission with those who were more forward-thinking.
Now, two years later, in election year, she has backtracked on her initial support and enthusiasm for the desperately needed central generating electrical power plant. She is demonstrating a lack of leadership for the common good of our people, employers, employees and our way of life in Rhode Island.
More recently, and out of left field, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin has announced his opposition to the proposed power plant. There are 16 state agencies that that are required to analyze the impact of an energy facility siting in Rhode Island, the attorney general's office is not one of them. For more than two years, the attorney general has been quiet on this public policy debate. Why now? Certainly the “out-of-nowhere” announcement asking the Superior Court to let him become part of a lawsuit with an amicus brief is perplexing.
Kilmartin cites four reasons why he wants to provide an amicus brief. Three of the four are not legal in nature and have no legal purpose.
The first point: “the power plant will primarily use natural gas to generate power, but when gas is not available, use oil." Does Kilmartin know that during the cold snap a couple of weeks ago, all of the power plants in New England that could do so used oil to keep generating power, because there wasn’t enough gas? Does he know that if the cold had persisted for three more days — just three more days — it is likely the ISO-NE would have had to resort to rolling blackouts in New England?
His second point: “the plant is not needed, as more renewable power has come on line." Yes, more renewable power is coming on line, but it is intermittent power and unreliable. No sun, no solar. No wind, no power production.
His third point: “ratepayers may have to pay for the power plant's connection to the grid." As Deepwater Wind’s connection to the grid was funded by the ratepayers? Or commercial solar arrays' connection to the grid is paid for by ratepayers? Then, yes, ratepayers would have to pay, as they did for wind and solar.
His fourth point: “the water purchase agreement with Johnston is illegal because the water is supposed to be used for domestic municipal purposes." Well, then, I guess Johnston can’t supply water to any non-home-based business in Johnston.
Seven central generating plants have or will close in New England, representing nearly one-third of our power production. We don’t have enough gas and we don’t have enough central electrical generating capacity. Renewables cannot solve this problem in the short time left to solve it.
Will Rhode Island’s real leaders step up? We need you, and we need you now!
Douglas Gablinske is executive director of The Energy Council, a membership organization of large energy users in Rhode Island.