Bloom Energy Related Lawsuit Filed Against Governor Markell & The PSC

Below is the Caesar Rodney Institute’s press release, and I’ll let it speak for itself.

In the early 1970’s, the Coast Zone Act was passed in the Delaware General Assembly and signed into law by the late Governor Russell Peterson.

The fundamental purpose of this act was to stop Shell Oil from building another oil refinery in Delaware along the Delaware River. Of course, the act went much further, fundamentally banning all manufacturing from the defined “Coastal Zone”. The broader affect was to indicate to manufacturers that Delaware was an unattractive place in which to build manufacturing even outside the “Coastal Zone”. The result is that over the last 40 years, almost all manufacturing in Delaware has ceased.

One can argue that our environment is cleaner, and therefore, people are healthier. But, that simplistic analysis ignores the clear negative health outcomes for the unemployed and underemployed. And, wealthier citizens demand a cleaner environment. Many on the Left believe that clean manufacturing is impossible, but these same individuals enjoy the fruit of that manufacturing (look at the oil-based fabrics used in the Occupy Wilmington site).

In any event, the law is the law. Governor Markell can’t applaud Governor Peterson for banning manufacturing on the one hand and then choose to ignore that law on the other for his preferred manufacturer.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RE: Lawsuit Filed against Governor Markell, Public Service Commission DATE: 6/20/2012

DOVER, DE – Cause of Action, a Washington D.C.-based legal advocacy group, has filed suit today in US Federal Court, District of Delaware, against Governor Jack Markell and five members of the Delaware Public Service Commission at the behest of the Caesar Rodney Institute.

The Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI), a Delaware-based non-partisan think tank, has challenged the merits of utilizing high-cost solid oxide fuel cells to produce electrical power for sale to ratepayers of Delmarva Power, Delaware’s largest energy utility provider. CRI was the sole entity opposing the contract between Delmarva Power and Bloom Energy at the Delaware Public Service rate hearings in October of 2011, on the basis the economic impact on Delaware’s economy would be negative because of the contract. CRI was also concerned about the constitutionality of the contract.

In an attempt to make the public aware of the issue at hand, CRI funded expert testimony in support of an engaged citizen’s challenge at a hearing before the Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board, as to whether Bloom Energy had the right to build its Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technology in lands that were considered protected for wildlife. The Board voted to deny the citizen activist standing, which allowed Bloom Energy to begin building its Fuel Cell technology in the Coastal Zone. At that point CRI decided to pursue the matter further.

Since CRI was not able to convince the Public Service Commission and other government regulatory bodies to change their views on either the economic or environmental impact of the permit application, discussions were initiated with Cause of Action to pursue the matter further. Based on the information and analyses CRI presented, Cause of Action accepted CRI’s request to intervene in the matter based on constitutional issues that could be adjudicated. 

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