Idahoans currently send $3 billion a year out of state to purchase energy! We need to reverse this trend.

 

An Payette County nuclear power plant would help Idaho supply future energy demand. According to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, demand for electricity in the West is projected to increase 20 percent over the next decade. At the same time, Idaho is ill-prepared to face its future energy needs, according to a study of proposed power plants compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Agency. Between 2007 and 2011, Idaho is scheduled to bring on line 337 megawatts of energy, mostly from wind and geothermal projects, putting it dead last among the 11 Western states. The proposed Idaho Energy Complext power plant is currently the only large base-load power plant of any kind proposed for Idaho.

Plans for the plant are progressing. Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc. has submitted a request to Payette County to rezone 1,280 acres of hay field from agricultural to industrial. The Payette County Commission has scheduled a public hearing on the application on Wednesday, April 22 at 6 p.m. in the Mountain Home Junior High School Auditorium, 1600 E 6th South.

 

Energy Comparison

Photovoltaic devices use semiconducting materials to convert sunlight directly into electricity. Solar radiation, which is nearly constant outside the Earth's atmosphere, varies with changing atmospheric conditions (clouds and dust) and the changing position of the Earth relative to the sun. Nevertheless, almost all U.S. regions have useful solar resources that can be accessed. From eia.doe.gov

Winds are created by uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, irregularities of the Earth's surface, and the rotation of the Earth. As a result, winds are strongly influenced and modified by local terrain, bodies of water, weather patterns, vegetative cover, and other factors. The wind flow, or motion of energy when harvested by wind turbines, can be used to generate electricity. Wind-based electricity generating capacity has increased markedly in the United States since 1970, although it remains a small faction of total electric capacity. From eia.doe.gov

• Wind facilities require about 130,000 acres and produce electricity with less than 20 percent reliability
• Contribute to bird and bat deaths

American nuclear power has proven itself a safe, reliable and affordable workhorse for 52 years, producing more clean energy than any other source.

• Limited Water Useage
  •   advanced third-generation reactors consume as little as 100,000 gallons of water per day to cool the reactor.
• Safe Energy
  • NO ONE has been killed or injured through radiation exposure in the 52 years of American commercial nuclear operations
  • 104 reactors provide 20% of the energy in the US already
  • Multiple redundant security systems make "meltdowns" impossible in advanced reactors
• Clean, Quiet and Compact
  • Reactors fit into cities, suburbs, high-end resort towns, farms and wildlife habitat
  • Nuclear plants produce large amounts of emissions-free energy for about 1.7 cents per kilowatt-hour, second only to hyrdo in low cost