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Press Releases
Consumers to Pick Up $7-$12 Billion Tab to Retrofit "Dirty" Coal-Fired
Electric Plants by 2003 According to New Fuld Study
EPA Regulations May Prove Politically Decisive for Gore-Bush
Cambridge, MA - August 21, 2000 - Consumers in twenty-one Eastern
states could be facing a $7-12 billion bite out of their wallets to ensure
that coal-powered electric utility plants substantially reduce their Nitrogen
Oxide (NOx) emissions by 2003, an issue that could become politically decisive
in the upcoming Presidential election.
A new study by Fuld & Company, a research and consulting firm in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, concludes that an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
ruling requiring State Implementation Plans (SIPs) by the end of this year
will result in power plants rushing to install expensive technology, because
there will be no time to explore and test more cost effective remedies
that could be implemented in phases.
"The challenge faced by the industry is that, while many people seek
environmental protection, few (including legislators) want to pay more
for the energy we use to heat and light our homes, fuel our vehicles, or
power our factories," said Ravi Krishnan, Associate Director, Public
Utilities Practice, Fuld & Company, who authored the study.
Vice President and Democratic Presidential candidate Albert Gore, Jr.
announced June 26, 2000 in his Climate Initiative that federal funds should
be allocated to help defray the cleanup costs and stabilize electricity
rates. Republican Presidential candidate George Bush, Jr. has not commented
on the EPA ruling. His home state of Texas leads the U.S. in toxic industrial
air pollution.
The EPA ruling was handed down in 1998 and reaffirmed by the federal D.C.
Circuit Court of Appeals in March 2000 to reduce the state-to-state transport
of air pollution from approximately 140 power plants. It would require
an 85% reduction of NOx emissions from 1990 levels by 2003. Over the past
20 years, the U.S. has reduced NOx emissions by only 13% compared to a
60% reduction in the Czech Republic, 38% in the UK, and 31% in Germany.
NOx can create ground level ozone which, when inhaled, can cause acute
respiratory problems, aggravate asthma, reduce lung capacity, inflame lung
tissue and impair the body's immune system. It also contributes to regional
haze and global warming. Electric utilities account for 33% of the U.S.'s
annual NOx emissions.
Krishnan contends that the EPA implementation timeline is short, and
that the affected power plants may have to rely on expensive solutions
for technology conversion. With a deadline for submitting SIPs only a few
months away, it is not clear whether they can evaluate a range of control
technology options to balance emission control requirements with compliance
costs. A two or three-year extension would enable power plants the opportunity
to explore a mix of technologies that could be implemented in phases and
not unduly burden their operations and, ultimately, the consumer through
higher electricity rates, according to Krishnan.
Fuld & Company
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., with offices in London and Geneva,
Fuld & Company is an international leader and pioneer in the field
of competitive intelligence. The company specializes in providing research
and analysis to the financial services, utility/energy, manufacturing,
high technology, telecommunications, healthcare and consumer product sectors.
In addition, across all of these industry sectors, Fuld & Company assists
corporations in the development of robust strategic intelligence programs
and processes. Leonard Fuld, often regarded as the father of competitive
intelligence, is a worldwide recognized expert and author in the field
of competitive intelligence. Since founding Fuld & Co. in 1979, the
firm has completed more than 3,000 competitive intelligence assignments
and count more than half the Fortune 500 as its clients.
Additional information can be found at http://www.fuld.com
Contact:
Sarah Gerrol, (617)
523-4141
sarah@morrisseyco.com
Morrisey & Co.
121 Mount Vernon Street
Boston, MA 02108
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