News Brief

Credit Crunch Trickles to Power Industry

The credit crunch is also putting the hurt on the nation's power brokers. The Associated Press' Matthew Brown details just how tight the squeeze is.

By Courtney Lowery, 11-17-08

The Associated Press’ Matthew Brown today details how the credit crunch is squeezing the nation’s power industry, focusing on a hot-button coal-fired plant near Great Falls, Montana.

Brown reports:

If credit woes put the brakes on scores of proposed plants, observers say a shift to other, more expensive fuels could end up soaking customers. The alternative is more frequent and potentially extended outages.

Click here for the story.

[End of article]

Thing is, SME would probably be halfway out of the ground now, with money in hand, were it not for MEIC and its cadre of do-nothings fighting fang and claw to stop the plant at all costs.
I just wonder, when rates go through the roof, if MEIC's team will lead the screaming about price-gouging.

The real screaming my take place when Northwest energy buys PPL's unit four in Colstrip and sees how much maintenance has been neglected and how much it will cost to make the plant reliable. One reason no doubt that it is selling for less than the cost it was built for.