In the energy industry, discarding unwanted cards mirrors a broader dilemma: everyone aims to divest from coal, yet the narrative changes when it comes to distribution.
On the occasion of periodic presentations of the energy strategies of large corporations, it’s easy to explain everything if you’ve ever played the so-called “Black Helen” card game. To begin with, players would pass a few unwanted cards to each other (over and over again) and then play a classic turn by taking tricks. Each card costs corresponding points, but our Helen – the Queen of Spades- is the most costly. So everyone is eager to present her to someone else at the beginning and waits for those spades to be touched during the gameplay under any circumstances.
A very similar situation is happening in the energy industry. Energy companies are eager to leave something valuable and give guaranteed revenues and profits, which is distribution. Here, a tariff approved by the ERO guarantees coverage of costs and an appropriate share of capital expenditures, a secure business and significant, stable revenues (and monthly cash inflow) – a business model beloved by banks and borrowers. On the other side is Poland’s “black Helenka” – coal generation under pressure from RES taking away the market, coal prices ruining costs and the additional burden of CO2 certificates moving to the end of the queue among competing price sources. No one wants “black Helenka” and would happily give it away immediately – once to NABE, now to whomever. The Ministry of Industry is still in the organization so that it won’t take these problems into account in any case, and a straight sale is out of the question due to the total lack of buyers in the market. The game goes on, but it is also already clear what will happen at the end – the corporations will all the time want to stuff coal generation in a new form of organization of public subsidies (which will probably end up in a kind of centrally controlled generation contingency reserve managed by the PSE) and that corporation, which will not run away from coal – will face the banking wall and go bankrupt. The energy card game continues – as you can see, the times have brought the twilight of the Bridge (spades their strongest) and the return to a Thousand Card Game(weakest).
Difficult choice of executives… but well-known TV shows are moving in to help.
The energy sector closely follows the process of changing top managers. In many corporations, contests are underway or sudden turmoil (quick turnarounds after 24 hours). At the largest multi-conglomerate, a record 260 people have reportedly applied for candidates. Because of this, the procedure is dragging on; auditions are happening. Here, you can see a sign of the times – now a flurry of candidates; in the past, no one applied, but still, who they chose was immediately known. According to the latest information -popular TV formats are coming to the rescue, and the process is about to be based on a well-known and well-liked show – The Voice of Poland. For now, the “blind” stage continues – “blind auditions”, and the evaluators are already turning over chairs and gathering their teams. In a moment, the battle, the semifinals and the final selection of the winner. This year, however, there will be no audience voting. The new idea is widely welcomed with enthusiasm in the market, and in a short while it will also come to political elections. Work is underway on the Polish edition of the European elections (we won’t make it to the local ones anymore) as an electoral set of “Dancing with the Stars” compiled with “My Face Sounds Familiar.” Here, however, the viewers’ vote will decide the set of the Polish group in the Europarliament. As you can see… it is possible and may be even better and faster.
Legislative pains in modifying the windmill law…
The law regulating wind turbines’ location should be modified is emphasized in every energy discussion. It is even known what needs to be done – to change the provision on the minimum distance of a windmill from buildings from 700 meters to 500 meters. For unknown reasons – in the country on the Vistula River, the legislation process for some uncomplicated things resembles an attempt to build a space rocket to Mars from plywood and paper instead of a simple nail nailing. First, it was done “fast” – i.e. a new multi-page windmill law appeared immediately, but to everyone’s surprise, with a noise criterion and minimum distances of up to 300 m. Now it is done “slow”, and another holistic version of the law is being laboriously prepared – so detailed and refined that nothing changes, i.e. another month passes, and nothing appears. Whether fast or slow – the effect is the same – our windmill rocket doesn’t fly. A creative standup hint is in the amendment to the ACT of March 9, 2023, amending the Law on Investment in Wind Power Plants and specific other laws – in the following form: in Article 4, paragraph 1, replace “700” with “500”. Well, but I guess the world is too simple in satirical posts.