Energy Biz - September/October 2008 - (Page 49) EnErgyBiz David, how does a company like yours track an issue like carbon? gOODin We are right now permitting a coal-fired plant. We’ve got one state where the plant’s located — South Dakota — that’s very interested in the development. The adjacent EnErgyBiz Can we get enough nuclear plants fast enough? state of Minnesota has a completely different opinion. Absent r aTcLiFFE We need as a national energy policy, that’s one of the many as we can possibly challenges that we’re seeing. John Ramil TECO Energy, president and chief operating officer put into the pipeline and rOwE We really must have a carbon finish. It would take an policy soon. It took us about 300 years to extraordinary effort. The get here. We’re not going to get somewhere financial reality and the else in less than 50 or more likely 100 practical engineering and years. So we’ve got to get at it in an orderly design and certification way and send price signals that people can reality will govern how take with some confidence about what the many you have. cost of carbon is going to be out there in 10, 20, 30 years. Then I think you get a EnErgyBiz How do framework for the two technologies you’ve you deal with escalating been discussing, coal gasification and costs? carbon sequestration and more advanced r aTcLiFFE What we nuclear can begin to function. don’t know about any yackir a This has to be an economytechnology — natural wide cap-and-trade policy. It can’t just be gas, coal or nuclear — is the utility industry. If it’s the commodity prices simply the utility industry associated with that technology, whether and it’s simply in the it’s cement, steel, copper, aluminum. We’ve United States, it’s going to seen those prices double in the last couple be to make us feel good of years because there’s a global demand without having a true for commodities. So to the extent those effect on the environment. commodity prices influence technology This has to be global in costs, all the technologies are much more scope and economywide. expensive than they ever have been. The fact that we have not built new coal techEnErgyBiz Does nology or new nuclear technology simply everyone agree electricity makes the design concept and scope a little prices are headed upward? bit more uncertain than it does natural VincEnT- cOLL awn In gas, but the notion that nuclear is more New Mexico, electricity is uncertain than clean coal is a figment of actually very inexpensive. James Rogers the imagination. We should encourage all We’re about 7 and 8 cents Duke Energy, of them, and let the engineering design right now per kilowattchairman, president and chief executive officer hour, and our rates are expertise that exists in this country sort out about 20 percent below the national average. We could see the economic reality. electricity prices going up 20 percent over the next few years EnErgyBiz Part of what’s contributing to that uncerjust by the cost increases in coal and natural gas for us. The tainty is what’s going to be done with carbon. question is how much of a dent we can put in that price rise rOgErs When you address the carbon issue, you’ve got with energy efficiency. Our legislature had enough foresight to to first recognize it’s a worldwide issue. You have to have a pass a law that requires the utility commission to look at the plan that brings in China and India. In fact, between now disincentives for energy efficiency and requires them to give us and 2030, 76 percent of all the incremental CO2 in the returns on energy efficiency greater than on the supply side. administration and the Congress want there to be an efficient licensing process, there will be one. And if they want the licensing process to be inefficient and impossible, it will be. Both cleaner coal and advanced nuclear are fundamentally questions of public policy. The economic differences between the two will work themselves out. But in either case you need a public policy framework that lets it happen. world will come from the developing world. Fifty percent of that incremental CO2 will come from China alone. www.energycentral.com E n E rgyB i z 49 http://www.energycentral.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.