NRG Energy CEO calls US utility industry carbon stance 'unwise'

Washington (Platts)--26Sep2006

NRG Energy President and CEO David Crane Tuesday attacked the US electric
utility industry for advocating a voluntary approach to reducing carbon
dioxide emissions, saying such an approach is "unwise and self-defeating."

In remarks at Merrill Lynch's Global Power & Gas Leaders Conference in
New York, Crane said reducing carbon emissions is an issue that confronts
industry once in a century and likened it to the push toward worker safety in
the beginning of the 20th century.

"The power industry should do something because it is in a position to do
so," Crane said, adding that his company, a merchant generator, has moved to
address the carbon issue by, among other things, proposing the construction of
2,700 MW of new nuclear capacity in Texas, committing to add wind resources,
and working to commercialize one or more carbon capture technologies.

"The companies that are doing something now will have a seat at the
table" when carbon controls are debated, Crane said. "Others will be isolated
and ignored."

Despite his company's position, Crane said he is pessimistic the utility
industry will follow its lead. "While some forward-thinking executives have
taken a stand, the broader utility view, as expressed by its lobbying
organization, can best be described as 'See no carbon, hear no carbon, speak
no carbon'," Crane said.

A position based on voluntary restraint, he added, is "unwise and
self-defeating" because it is "increasingly out of touch with the mainstream
public." Crane added that the industry risks "infuriating" the public by
advocating voluntary carbon constraints, while at the same time it is
proposing to build 100 GW of coal-fired generation, which would add 700
million tons of carbon to the atmosphere, an amount equal to the combined
annual emissions of Spain and France.

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