Alpine – Short And To The Point
 Opinions are all over the place on the Alpine Energy Group (AEG) deal but there’s one thing most can agree on – the documents outlining the agreement are long and difficult to read.
As a result, we hear, people are struggling to understand what the issues really are and are getting lost in all the talk about BTU’s and kilowatts and emissions and what all. So we’re going to break it down (as best we can) and attempt to highlight those issues we think most people need to know – one factor at a time. These articles are not meant to be highly detailed or technical. The purpose is to help unravel a complicated agreement so people can start to understand what the debate is about.
The first issue is the cost and effect of Petroleum Coke.
In short, AEG has signed an agreement with the VI Water and Power Authority (WAPA) for a waste to energy program that will burn trash and petroleum coke (an oil byproduct) to get rid of the garbage generated in the territory and provide a portion of the electricity that WAPA generates now based solely on oil. Those who object to the use of pet coke say it is not clean energy and that the emissions from burning it will be harmful to people and the environment. The use of pet coke is steadily declining in the United States. It is viewed as one of the most costly and least safe elements in energy production. It is not classified as a “renewable” source of energy, because it is a by-product of oil, a fossil fuel, which is what “clean energy” is trying to get away from.
In addition, WAPA (per the agreement) is responsible for the cost of purchasing the PetCoke and can only buy it from Hovensa. WAPA is also responsible for paying to ship the material from St. Croix to St. Thomas and the St. Thomas Alpine facility, and to truck it from Hovensa to the St. Croix Alpine facility.  According to the US Energy Information attached to this article,  the use of PetCoke in the US is going down (top line on graph), and the cost is going up (bottom line on graph). Since 1995, the average cost of a ton of petcoke has risen from $18.27 to $60.21 at the end of 2008.
Next Article: Potential Legislative Issues
Over a year ago, President Chavez of Venezuela announced that construction of a refinery that would process Venezuelan oil has begun. Where will we be, if dependant on Hovensa Pet Coke, if Hovensa is no longer refining oil for Venzuela? I believe this needs to be researched further in order to fully understand the feasibility of the proposed AEG project.
I think Hovenza should give WAPA their waste pet coke for free! Then they could really claim to be good corporate citizens.
Persona Non Grata, that sounds good to me. However, I believe that a company has a monopoly on HOVENSA’s pet coke. If the contract makes it so that WAPA has to buy pet coke from that company only, it would be stupid of them unless they locked in prices.
Is there an agreement that Hovensa ONLY has to sell to WAPA? Or, can WAPA only buy from Hovensa, but Hovensa can sell to anyone willing to buy, therefore likely creating a supply & demand price increase in the future? It really seems to me that there are too many questionable variables and obstacles that need to be answered. I just don’t think the USVI should commit to this power generation alternative until it comes to a referendum vote by and for the people. Then, if it happens to be that most of the community votes in favor of this deal/power supply, we should move forward. I seem to think that the pepole do not agree with this AEG/WAPA/VIWMA/VIPA plan for our future. Please, can we talk more with ALL the parties, get explanations, THEN take it to a vote?
Today on Free Speech I heard a woman state that there is a conference scheduled BY CIF between AEG, WAPA, VIPA, and concerned citizens from our community, at Gertrudes on January 13th @ 6pm.
I am weary of this conference, as I foresee that it will only be attended by our government officials as a means of appeasement. I do not believe that anyone in our government is going to bend an ear to the citizens with viable alternatives. I believe we, the citizens, will have to sit through hours of information, one-sided information, being crammed down our throats. Will ANYONE in our government really listen? It seems to me that they have made a decision for us, regardless of our desires for more research and exploration into other alternative power generation options.
IF we, the USVI, had taken the $5 million dollars (that we know of) and had purchased individual alternative residential units, would we even need to discuss the AEG plan? What if WAPA, or the government, had financed individual units for every home owner, taking into consideration the US rebates, would we have tossed as much money to consultants as we have? The government could have purchased in bulk alternative energy units, then made the units available to ALL homeowners at a reasonable cost + interest rate. Isn’t this what our government is supposed to do with and for us?
This scenario would have alleviated the toll on each island for WAPA power generation, that seems quite simple. SO, if this path was not chosen, then WHY was it not chosen? There seems to me to be some side deals that took priority for personal prosperity.
Our government is supposed to support us, not rape us.
Oh, one more concern:
Mr. Bert Bryan,
I understand that you have been invited to speak at this upcoming conference. Do you think, that for once, you could leave your black vs white issues off the table? Don’t you realize that we ALL pay the same rate, no matter where we came from or what color our skin is? We are all in a new world, whether or not you accept it is your perogative, but it would be nice to think that there would be an intelligent conversation without slander from you, just once. Can you do it??? Can you put your imbedded hatred aside and understand the importance of community working together? I praise the day in advance if you can do so.
Response to Carnival: WAPA is obligated by the agreement to buy petcoke from Hovensa. Hovensa is not restricted to only sell petcoke to WAPA.
Well, there lies a huge concern with Hovensa and WAPA.
The price of petcoke will rise and fall with supply and demand. With the rest of the world embarking on clean and green energy, the demand for petcoke will fall. As we move forward with renewable energy, whether for automobiles, home heating, or as a main energy source, we will likely see refineries close. As these refineries close, the supply for petcoke goes down, hence the price goes up. How high? That’s a scary situation to be in: dependant on a by-product of refining that the whole world is trying to reduce. Hovensa is a business, and they have no obligation to give their product to us at a below-market price. If Hovensa did that, how many people would they need to lay-off to supplement their loss?
This Alpine deal really needs further research.
Not a conference…..an open panel discussion and forum to answer questions for the public.
Panel is (so far) Steffen Larsen, Paul Chakroff, Senator Bryan, Senator Donastorg, Senator O’Reilly, Mario…….all senators were invited I am told. We’ll see who cares enough to show up.
Expect the public will not be in support of the $450 million dollar deal when the facts are presented. Hugo and the admin and AEG have been lying to all of us about what a good deal it is.
Also coming from STT is Clarence Payne…….he has done a ton of research on the entire process we are getting jammed down out throats by those who got paid off.
I went on Wikipedia to find out about this pet coke substance. It looks like it can be dispose of safely if a refinery have the proper equipment and it following protocol. The big question is if Alpine has this type of equipment, and about the long-term effects exposure to pet coke would have on living things. Here is the site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_coke
To me the environmental and health effects are a secondary issue. The main issue is that it WILL NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE RATE PER KWH!!! Knowing that, why are we still discussing it?! It’s over. Stupid idea. Anyone got a next plan?