As coal plants close, electricity costs to riseMay 23 - Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque, IA)
Electricity prices are probably on their way up across much of the U.S. as coal-fired plants, the dominant source of cheap power, shut down in response to environmental regulations and economic forces. New and tighter pollution rules and tough competition from cleaner sources such as natural gas, wind and solar will lead to the closings of dozens of coal-burning plants across 20 states over the next three years. And many of those that stay open will need expensive retrofits. Because of these and other factors, the Energy Department predicts retail power prices will rise 4 percent on average this year, the biggest increase since 2008. By 2020, prices are expected to climb an additional 13 percent, a forecast that does not include the costs of coming environmental rules. The Obama administration, state governments and industry are struggling to balance this push for a cleaner environment with the need to keep the grid reliable and prevent prices from rocketing too much higher. "We're facing a set of questions that are new to the industry," said Clair Moeller , who oversees transmission and technology for Midcontinent Independent System Operator , which coordinates much of the electric grid between Minnesota and Louisiana . Coal is the workhorse of the U.S. power system. It is used to produce 40 percent of the nation's electricity, more than any other fuel. Because it is cheap and abundant and can be stored on power plant grounds, it helps keep prices stable and power flowing. Natural gas, which accounts for 26 percent of the nation's electricity, has dropped in price and become more plentiful because of the fracking boom. But its price is on the rise again, and it is still generally more expensive to produce electricity with gas than with coal. Also, gas isn't stored at power plants because the cost is prohibitive. That means it is subject to shortages and soaring prices. During the brutally cold winter that just ended, utilities in several states struggled to secure natural gas because so much was also needed to heat homes. Some utilities couldn't run gas-fired plants at all, and power prices soared 1,000 percent in some regions. As Indiana has reduced its reliance on coal to 84 percent from 97 percent over the last decade, its power prices rose far faster than the rest of the country's. That makes things tough on customers, especially big power users like Rochester Metal Products Corp. , in Rochester, Ind. The hulking furnaces it uses to melt scrap iron consume enough electricity to power 7,000 households. "As Indiana's price of electricity becomes less and less competitive, so do we," said Doug Smith , the company's maintenance and engineering manager. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=32577525& |