A little over 50 years ago the pumped storage energy storage system at Northfield Mountain began operating. Its purpose was to store energy produced at night by the Yankee Nuclear power plant, by pumping water to a reservoir on Northfield Mountain. The water would be released in the daytime to generate electricity on its return to a lower reservoir where it originated. The difference between daytime and nighttime electricity rates (for large customers) would generate a substantial profit for the operator. But there was one major difference between this operation and others that have been built elsewhere. Instead of building a lower reservoir, this system used the Connecticut River, New England’s largest and most important river, for its lower reservoir. Perhaps, at that time, the environmental effects were not considered important. Already the river was unnaturally heated by the nuclear plant, which used the river instead of building cooling towers as most other nuclear plants had to do. And in those days, shortly before the Clean Water Act (CWA), the river was already being used as a sewer.
But now, after the expiration of the original 50-year license, the First Light Company (a Canadian-owned company, registered in Delaware) seeks to renew the license for another 50 years. But that would be extremely inappropriate for many reasons.
Pumped storage always takes more energy to pump the water up than is produced when it releases the water and since the reactor has shut down the energy comes almost entirely from fossil fuel. It would take less fuel to produce the same energy if there were no pumped storage.
Now that the river’s pollution has been cleaned up by the CWA, and the ecologically disastrous heating effects of the nuclear plant have ended, the use of the river for pumped storage is the major problem that prevents the river from becoming one of New England’s natural wonders. But the back and forth reversal of the river’s flow is disastrous to the many fish and other creatures that inhabit or would inhabit this magnificent river. Also, the destruction of the river’s banks is a problem that the company refuses to recognize.
Fifty years is a long time. Great advances are on the way for energy storage. A recent issue of the MIT Technology Review envisions an energy storage system that would use solar or wind energy to produce hydrogen by electrolysis of water. The hydrogen would be stored and used to produce electricity either with fuel cells or as a replacement fuel for gas-fired power plants. Batteries are another proposed solution for energy storage. Vermont Electric Coop recently introduced a plan for solar electric users to use batteries for backup energy (replacing generators). The plan would allow sales of the stored battery energy to the company when the backup was not needed. Solar energy is rapidly becoming cheaper and more available. As solar power grows, the daytime/nighttime price difference of commercial energy is bound to decrease and FirstLight’s profitability will decline. This will happen long before the new 50-year license expires, and FirstLight, like other declining businesses, will slack off on maintenance, paying taxes, and providing recreational facilities before sneaking off into bankruptcy. What will happen to the people who depended on the company and the environmental wreckage that will be left behind? Could this be the reason that FirstLight reorganized to separate their pumped storage business from their hydroelectric dam business – like when Philip Morris changed their name and separated their food business from their tobacco business, when fearing bankruptcy?
For these reasons, the FirstLight pumped storage should not be relicensed.
Ted Scott lives in Greenfield.