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March 1, 2007
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March 1, 2007 |
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Editorial Why charge ahead with substation? If Village Council members choose to move ahead quickly to purchase a new electric substation, they may miss a critical opportunity to not only save the Village considerable cost but also help villagers come together to both conserve energy and create a bold new identity. At last Tuesday’s Council meeting Village Manager Eric Swansen made a strong case for moving ahead immediately to purchase a new $3.5 million substation. The current electrical switching station has worked above capacity for a decade, according to both Swansen and an engineering consultant, and the strain shows: the Village narrowly missed two brownouts last summer. Without moving ahead to build a new substation soon — it would take about two years to be operable — the Village should expect actual brownouts, according to Swansen, who believes that an erratic power source would undermine efforts to attract new businesses to town. These arguments make sense. But what makes less sense is why the Village must move ahead so rapidly with the new substation, without fully exploring alternatives. This exploration would probably take six months to a year, which seems a small amount of time to examine choices that could critically shape this town’s future. While Yellow Springs may be cash poor, it remains rich in smart and creative people who care deeply about global warming and peak oil issues. At last week’s Council meeting, several of those people challenged Council to explore ways that villagers could significantly cut energy use before committing to a new substation. Such action could not only save both the Village and individual villagers substantial cash, but could also position Yellow Springs as a progressive community that might attract progressive businesses along with state and national funding. The most important reason for this action in a time of unsettling climatic change is, of course, that for the village and for the world, it’s the right thing to do. Swansen may be right that the Village’s electrical needs are too great to be addressed with conservation efforts alone, no matter how bold. But we don’t need to rush toward that choice. In fact, villagers’ electrical use declined the past two years and remains substantially lower than a few years ago. And if negotiations with major electrical users averted brownouts last summer, this summer they could do so again. We have time to research, to connect with other progressive communities, to thoughtfully examine alternatives. It may be that the Village’s most responsible path is to move ahead with a new substation. Or it may be that the Village could take bold conservation steps that would benefit both itself and the planet. It makes sense to take the time to find out.
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