American Electric Power Co. A new clean-coal plant is proposed adjacent to the site of American Electric Power Co.’s pulverized-coal Mountaineer Plant.

Climate change, carbon emissions and coal presented intertwined issues to attendees at the Edison Electric Institute’s annual convention. Consensus was strong on the urgency of addressing the problems but proved elusive when discussion got down to particular solutions.

Most at the meeting, held June 17-19 in Denver, agreed that the world ultimately will have to generate electricity without fossil fuel, and technology for carbon capture and storage will have to bridge the way to that future. Whether climate change is real or not, the need to deal with the perception of it is, speakers agreed.

“In the 21st century, we will substantially decarbonize our technology,” James E. Rogers told the convention. “We need to approach the decarbonization of the generation industry as we did the Manhattan and Apollo projects to attain a sustainable electric power future,” said the chairman, president and CEO of Charlotte, N.C-based Duke Energy and outgoing EEI chairman. But the effort must explore all possible solutions, he said, noting, “There is no silver bullet, just silver buckshot.”

"In the 21st century, we will substantially decarbonize our technology." — James E. Rogers, Duke Energy

Rogers said the utility industry must lead the way in finding solutions to the climate-change problem. “If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re going to be on the menu,” he said. The approach must be economy-wide, not focused on just the power generators, and must be a blend of market-system and command-and-control approaches. But he added, “I’m not confident that Congress will act this session.”

Technology must provide the solution to climate change, said Jeff Sterba, chairman, president and CEO of Albuquerque-based PNM Resources and incoming EEI chairman. But “we have underinvested in technology [and]  relied on the Dept. of Energy to do research,” he said, noting that DOE has cut research and development by 80% since it was first established. Funding for the Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif., is down 30% from 10 years ago, he added.

DTE Energy Co., Detroit, was planning to build a coal-fired powerplant, but Anthony F. Earley Jr., chairman and CEO, saw carbon constraints coming, so he decided to seek licensing for a new nuclear unit instead. In February 2007, DTE announced plans to apply for a combined construction and operating license (COL) for a new unit at its Fermi 2 plant in Newport, Mich. Cost, financing, completion in a reasonable time and disposal of spent fuel remain high hurdles for new nukes, Earley admits, but he expects to see several more COL applications filed by the end of this year.

"We have underinvested in technology our and relied on DOE." — Jeff Sterba, PNM Resources

About two years ago, Burns & Roe, Oradell, N.J., expected a “significant move to coal and nuclear power,” said K. Keith Roe, chairman and president of the engineering firm. “Nuclear has continued very strong, but because of the carbon issue, coal is not proceeding as quickly as expected,” he added. Now, more owners again are considering natural-gas combined-cycle projects, he said.

Rogers also foresees “a dash to gas in 2009 and 2010.” Nuclear generation’s load factor is maxed out at about 95% and opposition to coal’s production of CO2 is slowing development of plants using that fuel, he said. Gas-fueled plants will absorb incremental demand, leading to “significant increases in gas prices,” he adds.

But American Electric Power Co., Columbus, Ohio, is still betting on coal. In a June 18 filing, AEP asked the Public Service Commission of West Virginia to approve cost recovery for a proposed 629-MW integrated gasification combined-cycle powerplant to be constructed next to its Mountaineer plant in New Haven, W.Va. The estimated cost is $2.23 billion, 28% more than an ultra-supercritical coal-fired plant, an AEP spokesman says.