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Except where noted, all dollar figures are expressed in 1980 dollars. All dates are expressed in calendar years. The projection period analysed begins in 1980 and ends in the year 2000. The most recent year for which most actual data are available is 1979. |
In 1981, the Congress began to consider amending the Clean Air Act; that process is still underway. Among the critical areas being examined are the federal standards that regulate air pollutant emissions from new electric power plants using coal. Whether the regulations now in force can control pollutant emissions effectively without imposing undue cost burdens on the utilities and without affecting the distribution of U. S. coal production are critical questions in the Congressional debate.
The Congressional Budget Office has prepared this analysis of these interrelated issues, focusing both on the current standards and four alternative policies that would contribute to abating pollutant emissions from new coal-fired power plants. The study was undertaken at the request of Senator Robert T. Stafford, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. In keeping with the CBO's mandate to provide objective analysis, this paper offers no recommendations.
John Thornasian of CBO's Natural Resources and Commerce Division prepared
the study, under the supervision of David L. Bodde and Everett M. Ehrlich.
The author wishes to express special thanks to Hoff Stauffer of ICF, Incorporated
for his assistance in preparing the coal-market analysis, to Johanna Zacharias
for assistance in drafting the paper, and to Angela Z. McCollough for typing
the manuscript and preparing it for publication. Valuable contributions
also were made by Emily W. Fox and Paul Ginsburg of CBO, Richard L. Gordon
of Pennsylvania State University, and J. Steven Herod of the U. S. Department
of Energy.
Alice M. Rivlin
Director
April 1982
SUMMARY
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II. STANDARDS AFFECTING THE ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY--THEIR EFFECTS ON EMISSIONS AND COSTS
CHAPTER III. POLLUTION CONTROL AND THE ELECTRIC UTILITIES' FINANCIAL CONDITION
CHAPTER IV. PROMOTING RELIANCE ON COAL AND THE EFFECTS OF THE CLEAN AIR ACT
CHAPTER V. THE U. S. COAL MARKET AND THE CLEAN AIR ACT
CHAPTER VI. CHOICES FOR NEW SOURCE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
APPENDIX A EFFECTS OF THE PSD PROGRAM
APPENDIX B. ANALYTICAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODOLOGY
APPENDIX C. FINANCIAL EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT ACCOUNTING METHODS FOR CONSTRUCTION
WORK IN PROGRESS
TABLES | |
1. | NEW SOURCE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR COAL-FIRED ELECTRIC UTILITIES |
2. | NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS AND ALLOWABLE INCREMENTS UNDER PREVENTION OF SIGNIFICANT DETERIORATION PROVISIONS |
3. | BOND RATING DISTRIBUTION OF 100 RATED ELECTRIC UTILITIES AND SAMPLE SUBGROUPS WITH INVESTMENTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL |
4. | CAPITAL AND GENERATING COSTS FOR A 500-MEGAWATT OIL-FIRED, RECONVERTED OIL, AND NEW COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT |
5. | PROJECTED REGIONAL GROWTH IN COAL-FIRED ELECTRICITY, TO YEAR 2000 |
6. | REGIONAL COAL PRODUCTION FOR 1979 AND PROJECTED TO THE YEAR 2000 |
7. | SUMMARY OF CURRENT AND ALTERNATIVE EMISSIONS STANDARDS |
8. | TOTAL PROJECTED SULFUR DIOXIDE EMISSIONS AND COMPARISON OF COST EFFECTIVENESS UNDER CURRENT LAW AND ALTERNATIVE STANDARDS |
9. | PROJECTED COST EFFECTS ON THE UTILITY INDUSTRY OF ALTERNATIVE EMISSIONS STANDARDS |
10. | UTILITY COAL CONSUMPTION IN 1979 AND PROJECTED FOR THE YEAR 2000, BY REGION |
11. | REGIONAL COAL PRODUCTION FOR THE YEAR 2000 UNDER EACH ALTERNATIVE |
12. | ESTIMATED LOW SULFUR COAL PRODUCTION IN 2000, BY REGION |
FIGURES | |
1. | ACTUAL AND PROJECTED POLLUTANT EMISSIONS FROM ELECTRIC UTILITY PLANTS--TOTAL AMOUNTS AND AVERAGE RATES |
2. | FINANCIAL TRENDS IN INVESTOR OWNED ELECTRIC UTILITIES ACCORDING TO TWO MEASURES: 1970-1980 |
3. | U. S. COAL FIELDS AND PRODUCING REGIONS |
4. | TOTAL U. S. COAL PRODUCTION BY REGION AND MINING METHODS: 1979 |
5. | MONTHLY DELIVERIES OF COAL TO U. S. ELECTRIC UTILITIES, BY SULFUR CONTENT: 1974-1980 |
6. | U. S. COAL SUPPLY REGIONS |
7. | U. S. COAL DEMAND REGIONS |
8. | U. S. COAL PRICES, BY SULFUR CONTENT: 1974-1980 |
As the Congress considers revising portions of the Clean Air Act, it confronts the sometimes difficult balance between two federal objectives:
At present, coal combustion in utilities furnishes roughly half of the nation's electricity--at the same time emitting nearly two-thirds of all the sulfur dioxide, a gaseous pollutant, released into the United States' atmosphere.
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