The question is who. My first target is Delmarva and its subsidiary Pepco Holdings. Of course the Bluewater Wind deal has to be politically tabled before that lawsuit becomes possible.

Why sue?

With all snark aside, that is the American corporate way of dealing with damages imposed upon one by another entity. And if we do not receive Bluewater Wind’s cheap and reliable renewable energy, we will all be hurt.

Let’s start with costs alone. And assume that Delmarva Power can purchase its energy for the next twenty five years at exactly the cost of what it pays right now. (like that’s ever going to happen), If one takes the bundled cost of the contract price of Bluewater Winds proposal, $105 per MW, and compares that to Delmarva’s purchased prices AS OF MARCH 2008 of $110 per MW, one already sees there is a $5 savings achieved by going with Bluewater Wind……

If one takes the aggregate maximum of 1,357,402 MWhs per contract year during the Service Term and multiplies that first by the $5 per MW difference, then by 25 for each of the years covered by the contract…………………..we get our first total of $169,675,260 that doing nothing will cost us IF PRICES FOR CARBON FUELS STAY THE SAME FOR TWENTY FIVE YEARS (Yo, that’s not going to happen).

This puts McDowell’s statement on treacherous legal footing. For the entire premise of his sham hearings, roughly estimated to have cost Delaware taxpayers $100,000, is that the wind farm proposed by Bluewater Wind is not in the best interest of Delaware ratepayers because of the risk and cost associated with the project.

But we see Bluewater saves us $169,675,260 over the rates we pay now, if we do nothing and carbon fuel costs stay the same and never rise…..   What McDowell will have to explain under oath, and it simply can’t be done, is how saving Delaware $169,676,260 dollars is costing Delawareans too much money!

That is just the tip of the iceberg.

So by doing nothing, and hoping for flat fuel costs, will already cost this state almost $170 million more than had we opted to go with Bluewater Wind. That part of our incomes could have been spent on other things, had Bluewater Wind been built as scheduled.

Next question:

So how little does fuel have to increase over the twenty five years span to actually cost us 1.6 Billion? Well, doing the math backwards, we take the 1.6 Billion divided by 25 years, and then divide that total by the number of MWh’s maxed per year, we see that if the average cost of a MWh is only 47 dollars more.   Once we reach that level,…… we, as a state, have lost 1.6 Billion Dollars solely because of McDowell’s interference.

Therefore by our nixing of Bluewater Wind, and trusting ourselves to Delmarva’s buying prowess, once we hit the average price of $152 per MHh, we, as Delawareans will have shelled out 1.6 Billion more.

Is that high cost, $152,  even a remote possibility? California has on occasion paid as high as $3880 per MWh. Closer to home? In 2005 record high temperatures drove prices within the PJM grid to over $150 per MWh for 234 hours, as opposed to just 5 hours in 2004. So $152 is not some far flung to-be-scoffed-at amount that could never, ever happen. It already has.

Of course, if one does not just consider money, there are other benefits stemming from Bluewater Wind as well. Less carbon, cleaner air, less breathable cancer among our population, all benefits that come from using windpower instead of coal.

New jobs, new technologies, and new tourist opportunities add additional revenue into the equation which was not calculated here.

This post is just the math. Done to show that McDowell and his buddies do not have a factual leg to stand on. For already, Bluewater wind is cheaper than what we pay now. And in case you were still unaware…………….fuel costs for all carbon derived fuels, will soon soar, making their assumptions much harder to stand up in court.

Al it takes is one of us to file papers, and like a clod falling on a slippery slope, the whole side of the mountain moves.

And I think that is worth suing for. What are your thoughts? Especially when one considers that the deal was about to be signed, until a few members twisted the Controller General’s arm. That arm twist will cost Delawareans 1.6 Billion Dollars.

Someone other than us had better pay for it.