01 Oct Austin’s Coal Plant: Too Ri$ky – (short version)

Concerning prices and Austin’s electricity future — the Pace Reports have made their recommendations without regard for alarming financial risks related to keeping the coal plant burning. Austin’s coal plant is a bad investment; vulnerable to expensive clean air regulation, a volatile fuel market, and more.

Yes, Austin’s coal plant has been a great fit for providing electricity when we need it, year-round, for about 30 years. But today, our power plant is a clunker:

1. Antique. In 2007, Austin’s coal plant ranked #7 most polluting industrial complex in Texas, out of 2,045 surveyed. (1)
2. Vulnerable. As federal climate legislation becomes a factor, with carbon caps and the like, coal’s costs “will likely double” according to Austin Energy’s own statements. (2)
3. Volatile fuel market. Purchasing coal to burn in the coal plant costs money. Last year Austin Energy’s coal fuel expenses went up 73% from the previous year. (3)
4. Rising operations costs. Austin’s coal expenditures tripled in 10 years to $180 million in 2008. (4) Even the Pace Report clearly shows Austin’s coal costing $1 more per MegaWatt than Austin’s renewables portfolio, by 2020. (5)

Austin is about leadership.
Council should move immediately to refocusing Austin Energy’s generation plan. The Pace Reports, thus far, have left out adequate analysis of our coal plant’s financial risks. Austin’s business leaders, City planners, advocates for the poor, and environmental activists need to look deeply at the financial risks associated with keeping this coal plant.

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NOTES
*Read long version of this post:
http://austineconet.wpengine.com/content/austins-coal-plant-volatile-riky

Citations:
(1) Source: Info provided by Neil Carmen, Clean Air Program Director, Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club. Based on data from The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s annual air emissions studies. Out of 2,045 industrial plants reporting air emissions in Texas, Austin’s Fayette Power Plant reported 88,277,040 pounds of criteria air emissions in 2007, equating to 90.6 pounds per each person in Austin using 974,365 as the population in Travis County. (more references via: http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/facility.tcl?tri_id=78945LCRFY6549P#major_chemical_releases)
(2) Source: extracted from info supplied by Austin Energy, 9-2-09 (more via http://powersmack.org/carbon-costs-for-coal/)
(3) Source: data from Austin Energy for the Fayette Coal Power Project (more via http://powersmack.org/coal-fuel-costs-are-rising/)
(4) Source: PowerSmack.org – http://powersmack.org/coal-is-not-cheap/
(5) Source: Info taken from Pace Report’s “Risk Analysis” powerpoint presentation (Sept. 2009).