Wednesday, February 14, 2001
Power plant won't go up in Trenton
'It came down to economics, pure and simple'
By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Plans for a second gas-fired electric power plant in Trenton have been dropped.
A spokeswoman for Duke Energy North America said this week the Houston power company won't go ahead with a $200 million generating plant next to one it operates jointly with Cinergy Corp. in Butler County.
“It came down to economics, pure and simple,” said Kate Perez, spokeswoman for the affiliates of Duke Energy Corp.
The company disclosed in September it was considering the Trenton site for the 640-megawatt generating station that would sell electricity on the wholesale or “merchant” market. Duke promised a final decision this year.
Ms. Perez said the power development company is constantly evaluating a num ber of sites around the country for new projects, and that any of a number of factors ranging from competition and construction costs to taxes can affect the decision to proceed.
Question: How can consumers verify that Cinergy Corp. really has to pay more for gas? Could it be they're just trying to make an unfair profit?
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Answer: State public utility commissions are responsible for verifying that the higher gas costs utilities pass on to customers are justified. Alan Schriber, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and Martin J. Huelsmann, chairman of the Kentucky Public Service Commission, say they're confident Cinergy and its operating subsidiaries in both states are not gouging consumers.
Mr. Schriber, who lives in Wyoming, said the PUCO is required by state law to monitor the purchasing of the state's utilities to make sure they are prudent and the charges they pass on to customers are what they actually paid.
Mr. Huelsmann, who lives in Fort Mitchell, said the utilities “give us all kinds of detail on who they're buying from and when they're buying. We have groups from our financial analysis division who review that information. We check that information pretty closely, and we're going to check it even more closely.”
Q: I never use my oven, yet the pilot light stays on. How much gas is the pilot light costing me, and what would it cost me to have it turned off?
A: James Dulley, syndicated energy columnist whose column appears regularly in The Cincinnati Enquirer, says pilot lights don't use a lot of gas, although consumption varies depending on the appliance's design and age.
In the winter, when gas is being used for heating, turning off the pilot light on an unused appliance isn't going to make a big different in gas bills, he said. In summer, turning off the pilot light could reduce your gas bill — but the cost of hiring a contractor to turn off the pilot would probably offset the savings.
The American Gas Association doesn't recommend that consumers shut off gas pilot lights on furnaces and water heaters for safety reasons. A significant number of natural gas accidents occur when pilot lights are relighted. If you do turn off a pilot light, it's recommended you hire a qualified heating contractor to relight it.
Cinergy offers a pilot light relighting service for $50. The service is available by calling 651-4466.
Q: We've heard about plans to help homeowners and tenants pay their bills, but what's available for small businesses? We're hurting, too.
A: Cinergy offers an extended bill-payment plan for small commercial accounts that allows them to spread high winter bills over three months.
It permits businesses that sign up to pay half their outstanding balance initially and spread the balance over the next two months.
For example, a small business facing a $1,000 monthly heating bill would pay half the bill this month, then $250 in each of the next two months along with that month's bill.
Information: Contact Cinergy's commercial accounts department.
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