SMUD and the Envorinment

By Patrick D. Kennedy

Nuclear Power Generation in Sacramento?

Recently, calls have been made to include nuclear power into the mix as a potential option for generation in Sacramento. The voters decided that issue in over a decade ago. It was the right decision then and it is the right decision today. I want to keep SMUD Moving forward, not backward.

I oppose nuclear power:

• It is too expensive. Nuclear power has proved to be much more costly than projected and more costly than most other ways of generating or saving electricity.

• It is a financial risk. Nuclear power plants are financially extremely risky due to long lead times, cost overruns, and open-ended liabilities.

• It is not a real solution for curbing climate change. While nuclear power plants don't produce relatively large quantities of carbon dioxide, the power they produce is so expensive that the same money invested in efficiency and efficient natural gas fired power plants, like the one SMUD recently unveiled, would offset much more climate change over the long term.

• It is neither sustainable nor safe. Nuclear power poses significant problems of radioactive waste disposal and the proliferation of potential nuclear weapons material.

SMUD Staff recently recommended that the District enter into a contract allowing it to dispose of Rancho Seco nuclear waste at landfills not fully licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Disposing of low level nuclear waste in landfills not licensed by the NRC threatens public health and the environment. According to the National Academy of Sciences, there is no "safe threshold" for human exposure to radioactive materials.

Along with the Sierra Club, I steadfastly oppose this proposal. Moving forward with this policy is bad science, bad public policy and a dangerous step backward.

Solar Power

The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, not political rhetoric, and it is the result of our actions, not a natural occurrence.

I not only support solar power, but I think SMUD as a public utility has an obligation to be a leader in solar power. I want to leverage SMUD's Research & Develpment investment by partnering with the private sector, bringing solar related businesses to Sacramento to develop cost effective technology and create economic development opportunities.

Solar programs have to be readily available for both new and existing homes

Wind Power

Recent advancements in wind turbine technologies have led to breakthroughs and the potential to produce electricity in the range of 4 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, without posing an avian threat. In light of these advancements, SMUD should step up its effort to work with other utilities, state energy agencies, technology development firms and transmission organizations to maximize utilization of wind assets and further incorporate the use of that power into the existing power mix.

Air Quality Programs

Sacramento has the 5th worst air quality in the nation, and it continues to grow as the community grows. More than 31,200 pounds of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) pollutants were reduced through SMUD's mobile emission reduction projects in 2004. NOx is the primary ozone precursor pollutant that leads to smog and harmful breathing conditions.

I am proud to have worked on the development of SMUD's clean air programs for ten years, and I am proud of what we have accomplished. On the SMUD Board, I will continue to push SMUD as a leader in clean transportation technologies.

Conservation and Energy Efficiency

Conserving electricity is the cheapest, easiest and most enviromentally sound way to keep rates low and dependability high. A kW saved is a kW that won't have to be generated. How we use, or more importantly, how we don't use energy is a defining issue of our time. It will determine what kind of planet we leave to future generations.

In addition to continued efforts to increase energy efficient residential development, I want to expand SMUD's efforts to work with commercial building owners to enhance energy efficiency practices. EPA studies and real world experience of businesses participating in the Energy Star program show that typical energy savings of 30% are readily achievable without large investment. Businesses are spending resources on energy consumption that they do not need to and the result is waste. I want to put an end to this waste.