May 18 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Charles Owens Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.


While the subject of climate change and greenhouse emissions is helping to generate a national debate, officials with Appalachian Power say they are taking steps now to meet the challenges of climate change, according to company officials.

Any legislation Congress passes will most likely create a cap-and-trade program, which AEP supports to reduce emissions, according to Appalachian Power Vice President R. Daniel Carson Jr.

Carson said a key issue in the cap-and-trade debate is establishing how the limited number of greenhouse gas emission allowances will be allocated. That will determine its impact upon AEP customers and the local economy.

While what impact this will have on the coal industry is still to be determined, Carson said Appalachian Power remains committed to coal.

"I think it will have implications to the coal industry because it is an added layer of cost for any utility," Carson said. "But by the same token, we are committed to coal as a tool. Where we have a problem is the extraction."

Carson said coal is still critical to the nation's generation capacity.

"We know the nation depends upon coal, and there are no easy alternatives," Carson said.

Carson said Appalachian Power is working to develop a renewable portfolio in Virginia that includes wind generation. The company had committed in 2007 to add 1,000 megawatts of renewable generation to its fleet by 2011, according to a company data sheet. As of today, it has added 930 megawatts of wind generation toward that goal.

Carson said the company began working several years ago to address the issue of climate change. Appalachian Power has since taken a number of steps to expand its portfolio of measures related to green house emissions, including joining the Chicago Climate Exchange, which is the nation's first voluntary program established for the exchange of greenhouse gas emissions.

The company also has planted 63 million trees to restore former strip mines, and is participating in international projects to protect and restore threatened tropical and subtropical rain forests, according to the company press release. The company also is nearing completion of the nation's first carbon capture and geological storage demonstration process at Appalachian Power's Mountain Plant in Mason County, and is committed to the construction of two Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Power Plants.

-- Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

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