Public Power - October 2008 - (Page 33)

bring a lot more things into play. They’re also being required to do so much more,” he said. Over the long term, as the price of coal and coal delivery continues to climb and carbon regulation adds a further cost, he acknowledges that his new coal plant may quit making sense on a pure cost basis. But his primary concern is Council’s climate protection plan explicitly directs the utility to do global outreach and Austin Energy’s “Manage it Green” program advises other cities on green building programs. Roger Duncan sends staff around the world to help communities plan for a carbon-constrained future. He is now working on a tool, described in the March- ternatives we have, will have to purchase allowances, incentivizing a reduction of emissions elsewhere to make up for those additional emissions. The cap will allow those who can cut carbon at lowest cost to do so. Working out a functioning capand-trade system —this is the true energy challenge of the future.” T “We’re tapping into good ideas that come from places like Austin.” reliability, which he does not believe he can get from solar or wind, “and we believe our first job is to keep the lights on.” Most importantly, the lack of resolution on climate legislation has kept him on hold. “When we started planning five years ago, a price on carbon was a lot less certain. But even now it’s absolutely a moving target. We don’t know when it’s going to be passed, what offsets will be allowed, how permits will be allocated or auctioned. “ The utility is therefore taking only small steps. Directed when it began construction on the coal plant to be more aggressive at energy management, City Utilities is spending $1.5 million, about 1 percent of its electric budget, on efficiency programs. “It’s not an enormous sum,” said Twitty, “but it’s aggressive for Missouri.” Instead of flaring the methane at the municipal landfill, the utility began using it to produce 3 megawatts, or 0.4 percent of its total electric power supply. The utility is considering buying up to 50 megawatts of wind from Kansas. And it is the leader of a consortium of utilities and universities testing the shallow sequestration of carbon dioxide. Although the minimum depth is generally set at 1 kilometer, or about 3,200 feet, to achieve high enough pressures to keep the CO2 in a supercritical state, “we believe there’s potential as little as 2,000 feet down to inject it and hold it there,” Twitty said. In several initiatives, “we’re tapping into good ideas that come from places like Austin,” Twitty said. In fact, that kind of knowledge-sharing has become an important role for public power producers. Los Angeles is part of the Large Cities Climate Leadership group. In Austin, the City www.APPAnet.org April 2008 issue of this magazine, to help utilities prioritize clean energy investments to get the greatest carbon reduction per dollar spent. The tool takes into account the region’s existing fuel mix, local resources, relevant regulations and incentives, time and capital constraints, and regional environmental vulnerabilities. Help is also available through groups like the Solar Energy Power Association. The association’s solar power options tool (SPOT) helps utilities figure out whether it makes more sense to build their own solar power plant, offer incentives to consumers or enter into solar purchase power agreements. It includes a peer matching service to pair users with utilities that have pursued a similar path. As community leaders, public power producers will also need to educate their customers on the costs of inaction on climate change. LADWP has made detailed projections of the local consequences of business as usual: severe droughts will become routine; the port of Los Angeles will be threatened by rising sea levels; public health will be menaced by worsening heat waves and smog. The discussion about the cost of moving to low-carbon energy, said Nahai, “too often presumes that fire, flood, drought, hurricanes—that those things don’t cost money. And the longer we wait to reduce emissions, the tougher and more expensive it will be.” Ultimately, a national cap-and-trade system, creating a national market for carbon, will enable each utility to find the least-cost path to reduced emissions. As Nahai puts it: “Utilities like ours that can expand their renewables will do so. Those that truly cannot, who don’t have the al- Fred Krupp is president of the Environmental Defense Fund. He spoke at the American Public Power Association National Conference in New Orleans in June. Miriam Horn is a journalist and an Environmental Defense Fund staff member. Krupp and Horn are authors of the recently released book Earth: The Sequel. • Meets FAA Specifications! Color – Size – Shape! – International Orange • Tested and approved by major power companies! • Thousands still in service after 30 years • Universal attaching! Fits any wire .1" to 1"! • Installs in 5 minutes! • Withstands hail! • No maintenance! Does not slip, oscillate, chafe, cause electrolysis or harmonic vibration. • Ships in halves nested. 9, 12, 20, 24, 30, 36 and 52" balls & special sizes available Call now 573-796-3812 ext. 2001 Fax 573-796-3770 www.tanawiremarker.com TANA WIRE MARKERS P.O. Box 370, California, MO 65018 OCTOBER 2008 33 http://www.tanawiremarker.com http://www.APPAnet.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - October 2008

Public Power - October 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions The Future of Fuels in a Carbon-Constrained World An Energy Revolution Energy Policy in 2009 and Beyond A Green Reincarnation Beyond the Green Bandwagon Reliability Green Energy Community Broadband Customer Service Hometown Connections Human Resources Parting Shot

Public Power - October 2008

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