As you will note in this issue, energy and the University of Delaware were grabbing attention in the region.
More details became available on a proposed data center and power plant on the University of Delaware campus. The project, as currently envisioned, would involve a 900,000-square-foot data center and a 250,000 megawatt gas-fired generating plant. The project, in its early stages, has not made its way into the mainstream media.
To the west, the wholesale electric cooperative serving the region rolled out plans for a half a billion dollar , 1,000 megawatt generating plant near Rising Sun, Md. and the Pennsylvania line. It is the latest sign of a revolution driven by lower natural gas prices, gas discoveries in Pennsylvania and a sharp drop in solar cell prices.
When combined with environmental stiffer standards, coal-fired plants are closing down and natural gas can be used for baseline generation. In this region, the use of gas had been largely confined to periods of peak power demand.
The rise of gas-fired energy will not be popular in some circles given the controversy over hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” the process of injecting water, sand and chemicals to extract the gas.
Good lines at Goodwill event
Kevin Reilly, the former Philadelphia Eagle and advocate for the disabled, had a good line at the annual awards luncheon for Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County at the Chase Center on the Riverfront.
Reilly, who emceed the event, quipped that New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon had to leave early to lead a county a self defense class. He was referring to the extensive coverage of apparent fisticuffs at a Little Italy restaurant between Gordon’s Chief Administrative Officer David Grimaldi and a Wilmington funeral director.
Versions of what happened vary, but the incident had a lot of people shaking their heads as the News Journal revealed that the county police chief visited the scene and Grimaldi somehow ended up with a police report. Both men were not shy about offering their take on the dispute that centered on organized crime, race or both.
The Goodwill event is one of best attended luncheons in the state, but a number top government officials were not around to see compelling award and video presentations on the work done by the organization.
The state’s congressional delegation was in Washington, while Gov. Jack Markell and new Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams could not make the event. These days, a live appearance can be replaced by a video message. That is what happened as speakers offered more than a few words.
It also gave Gordon a chance for his own quip as he told the audience wished he had he had an opportunity to appear on those imposing video screens at the Chase Center.
Later in Newark…
Shortly before 1:30 p.m., Markell pulled up with his aides in a state-issued GM sport utility vehicle for the event marking the progress of the University of Delaware vehicle to grid (G2V) effort. G2V aims to make electric and hybrid car batteries into little storage and generating plants that could provide a way to store and distribute energy from wind and solar. The imposing vehicles and security personnel in sunglasses have become standard issue in government circles with Wilmington Mayor Williams commandeering funds for an SUV for trips around town shortly before taking office. Markell never got a chance to tout Delaware’s automotive industry by riding in a Dodge Durango. That vehicle disappeared from the scene by the time the governor took office. The site of the G2V event was the former site of the Chrysler plant that built the Durango.
Markell took note of the fact that University of Delaware President Patrick Harker’s vision for the site saved the former Chrysler plant from becoming a retail area or worse. Instead, it is the home of the V2G project and a Bloom Energy fuel cell plant now under construction. Later, Markell joked that UD professor Willett Kempton, the UD professor and mastermind behind the G2V effort has a messy office, a claim backed up by another speaker.
But Markell was not to be left out of the teasing tone of the day when it was announced that the state’s chief of executive would take a brief spin in one of the V2G electric BMW minis that are be plugged into the grid. It was noted that the governor is often driven to events and that his skills behind the wheel might have slipped.
