No Free Lunch!

While we're all safely sequestered, "sheltered in place," protected by our elected officials from that awful virus that's everywhere but Home Depot, Albertson's, Wal-Mart and Lowes, I thought I'd take a look at something that's been bothering me.  And perhaps it's been bothering you as well...

So I was thinking about buying one of those reeeely trendy little electric cars.

You know, the kind you just plug in, and then absolutely "free" electricity flows unimpeded directly from the wall - or somewhere-or-other - right into your "tank."  Or your battery, or your computer, or your back pocket, or wherever the heck it chooses to go...

Damn, maybe it comes directly out of the ether!  Who knows?

But we do know that it's the "right thing to do," as taught to us by our current generation of folks who are scared of Confederate statues.  And plastic straws.  And mis-pronouning folks, lest they have their precious little snowflake feelings hurt.  And the 1st and 2nd Amendments.  And the 4th and 5th and 10th, too.  And "global warming," of course.  Can't forget about that.  It's the new religion of the Left, doncha' know...  

Now, we put-upon Californians, for example, know that doing bizz with electric utilities is somewhat sketchy.  Like SCE for example.  Southern California Edison decided a generation ago (1984) to build a really nice, shiny new nuclear power generating plant in Orange County's San Onofre, California.  

San Onofre is Spanish for "gouge the rate-payers," I think.  

And boy, did it ever work!  It was beee-u-tee-ful!  It spewed out tons and tons of electricity, powering hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses here in the Southland.  For years and years!  Absolutely clean!  The natives rejoiced!  The politicians rejoiced!  The climate rejoiced!  All without nasty emissions, or otherwise harmful consequences  of any kind!  

That little jewel cost them (us) $8.986 Billion Dollars.*  

But all was not sweetness and light.  Oh No, my friends, no, no, no!  The folks who built this baby later learned that this plant was situated near an earthquake fault.  (I wonder why the highly-paid consultants didn't notice that glaring detail going in?)  And if an earthquake hit nearby, it might, just might object.  And I emphasize "might."  And when nuke plants object, things can get real awful, real soon.  Think Three Mile Island.  Or think Chernobyl.  Bad...  

Of course, a ten mile-wide meteor just might strike downtown Chicago today.  And I emphasize "might."

So, they decided to redesign, refine and update the plant, in order to make it more earthquake-proof, taking more than a decade to accomplish.  And costing them (us) more than $2 Billion more of our hard-won dollars.  Boy, them there rate-payers (us) sure are nice, aren't they (we)?

Uh oh!  And then back in 2012 somebody discovered a radioactive leak in one of the generators.  Ooopsie!  Not good!  

The Social Justice Warriors then mounted their assault.  They somehow decided that nuclear power, especially nuclear power located in a state where earthquakes are more ubiquitous than Starbucks, in a state where folks are afraid of what the weather might bring in 12 years or so, a state where they love illegal aliens and hate old white geriatrics, like me, is a big time "no-no." And somehow or other the folks in charge up there in Sacrataxyou listened to these limp-wristed pantywaists instead of the normal, everyday rate-payers.

Like you and me.

Pretty, it was.  And I say was, because it no longer is...  

SCE then decided to s**tcan the entire project, tearing it down and carting it away.  Of course, disassembling a 30 year-old nuclear generating plant is not so very easy; we're told it'll take a long time and costs $Billions.

In our case, our erstwhile power company is spending another $4.2 Billion in a "decommissioning fee" to make the San Onofre nuclear plant disappear.  As in, go away.  Buh bye!  Courtesy of the rate-payers (me, and maybe you), I might add.  And then estimate that this disappearing act will take at least 9 or 10 years, and generate no fewer than 600 jobs.  Hmmm.  

I'd just like to say that this is not a good way to create jobs.  Oh no!  Otherwise, why not just tear down the L.A. Coliseum and the Golden Gate Bridge, too?

So, SCE, a company already in bankruptcy due to its having caused the infamous 2018 "Camp" Fire, which destroyed more than 18,000 homes, burned 150,000 acres down to the ground, and killed 85 people a year or so back, has blown through through some $10.4 Billion Dollars of OUR MONEY, for no good reason that I can determine.  But it's gone.  And we, the rate payers, have to pay it back.  Via increased electric bills ad nauseum and ad infinitum (doncha' just luuuuv French?)

And all of that is happening as countries around the world are mothballing their nuclear reactors.  Why?  Hmmm, because hand-wringing scardycat weirdo commie Lefties who sit at the feet of teenage climate gurus like that loudmouth little Greta chick are demanding it.  They want wind!  And solar!  And wave energy!  

Fossil and nukes bad!  Solar and wind good!

So our "Sano" Nuke Plant is history.  But our electric bills are not.  They're gonna' be with us ratepayers  for decades.  And if I were to buy a Tesla, or another of those little Liberal automobiles, my electric bill would go up faster than Slick Willie's willy.  So just remember this, fellow Patriots.  Our elected officials will do everything they can to make our puny, miserable, Great Unwashed little proletariat lives less livable.  And the moral of this story is, whatever they do, helpful or not, we have to pay for it.  

Because, and no surprise here...there ain't no free lunch!

*  KPBS News