Delaware Utility's Road From Gas to Grid

摘要

Delaware's campaign to entice Bloom Energy to build a new manufacturing plant in the state and then source energy from a fuel-cell farm to the grid went through a political minefield. Consumer and environmental groups opposed the plan; ratepayers would have to shoulder some of the investment in the rate base and still be on the hook if Bloom took its plan elsewhere. Plus, the fuel cells generate electricity using natural gas, which didn't fit the renewables category. But during a powwow with the company's representatives, state political leaders, utility officials and regulators, "the governor stressed it as a win-win for everybody," recalls Gary Stockbridge, CEO of Delmarva Power & Light Co.