Reference
The Nitty Gritty of LEAPS Economics
Why LEAPS is not economically viable
What credible persons and agencies say
Lies, Inaccuracies, and Misleading Statements
References, documents and links
The Nitty Gritty of LEAPS Economics
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the LEAPS Project was prepared by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and was released on January 31, 2007. Although the final EIS is over 600 pages long, Table 52, reproduced below, well summarizes the 28 pages of financial analysis in the EIS. This table has three columns that compare the costs of three different scenarios.
The first scenario is called the “No Action” alternative. FERC may have used a bad choice of words here because “No Action” actually means “No action on the LEAPS hydroelectric project but, instead, building a conventional peaker power plant with the same output capacity”. It’s assumed that this conventional plant is sited somewhere sufficiently close to the grid that the high voltage transmission line through the Cleveland National Forest, known as the TE/VS Interconnect, would not be required.
The second scenario is called the “Co-applicants’ Proposal”. This is how the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and Nevada Hydro (the Co-applicants) would like to build LEAPS. Finally, the last scenario is called the “Staff Alternative”. This is how the FERC staff would prefer to build LEAPS. It’s only slightly different from the Co-applicants’ Proposal and costs just 3% more.
There’s a line in Table 52, above, marked with a star in the left margin that shows the “Change in annual net benefit relative to the no-action alternative ($2005)”. You’ll see here that the Co-applicant’s LEAPS Proposal would cost $120 million more per year than the No-Action alternative and the Staff’s Alternative LEAPS Proposal would cost $125 million more per year to operate.
So, if the electrical power is needed, the California ratepayers could save around $120 million per year by building a conventional gas fired peaker plant ( the No-Action Alternative) rather than LEAPS!
