‘Sustainability’ is expensive

On how the myopic S-R guest opinion on sustainability (“Sustainability plan puts city ahead of the curve,” David Camp and Emily Grant, April 16) is divorced from reality:

Does Spokane realize the government wants to take away our natural gas meters?! Where recently reapproved by the city gas pipelines flow under our city?! Near where Avista operates a fossil-fueled, hyper-heated steam power plant just over the border in Idaho?! Where Eastern Idaho’s Mike Simpson wants to breach our Washington dams, reducing our energy supply while expanding nuclear energy?! Despite the recent abandonment of the Jenkinsville, South Carolina, nuclear plant expansion by Georgia and South Carolina utilities?! Got fiasco?! We’re about to!

I’ve had a heat pump heat here. It’s too cold without the emergency heat strips on constantly. Hundreds of homes had heat pumps removed for half-the-energy-cost high-efficiency natural gas heat a few years ago WITH GOVERNMENT REBATES! And now it’s back to electric?! So will our emergency heat be electric grid-straining heat elements or gawd-awful to SAS natural gas? Did you know tankless electric water heaters pull over 100 amps?!

Our electric costs WILL go up as more solar and wind power comes online. It costs more to collect renewables. That’s what far larger Edison and PG&E told us in SoCal at every rate increase. They pay 200 to 300% what we pay for electricity. Why would here be any different?

So breach our dams. Take away our far cheaper gas energy. And lie to us. The exodus eastward to cheaper, more reliable energy is about to accelerate. You’d think we’re now the people’s republic of San Francisco the way this city of Spokane leaders are heading!

Mike Reno

Spokane