(Fwd) Air & Water Quality Alert
Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Wed, 11 Feb 1998 04:02:20 -0500
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 10:39:31 -0500 (EST)
To: "Saunders-Norm" <osprey@mtolympus.ari.net>
Subject: Air & Water Quality
From: "Jack C. Leighty/Susan J. Noble" <jleighty@chesapeake.net>
Norm:
Chalk Point is on the Patuxent. Would any of the mdosprey
subscribers be interested in this? It's quite long for a discussion
list.
Pepco Might Use Higher-Sulfur Coal
Change in Standard Raises Air-Quality Questions
By Martha M. Hamilton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 6, 1998; Page G01
Potomac Electric Power Co. has changed its requirements for coal,
opening the possibility that it may begin using cheaper, higher-sulfur
coal to produce electricity for the Washington area. The move by Pepco
to change bid specifications for coal -- which accounts for about 90
percent of the fuel the utility uses to generate power -- has touched
off concerns among environmentalists that increased competition in the
utility industry could result in dirtier air. Pepco told coal
suppliers in January that it was expanding the types of coal it would
consider buying. The objective, according to Susann Felton, Pepco's
vice president for fuels, was "a least-cost strategy for the company
while meeting all the clean-air and other regulations." Pepco's new
specifications for coal would affect only two of six power plants --
Chalk Point in Prince George's County and Morgantown in Charles
County, both of which have two coal-fired units each. Even if the
utility buys higher-sulfur coal, workers and nearby residents
shouldn't notice any change in the way the air looks or smells, Pepco
officials said. The decision to change the coal specifications comes
as the electric power industry is undergoing radical change. More than
a dozen states have rewritten the rules that once protected regional
monopolies to now allow power suppliers to compete for residential and
business customers, and the District and some states -- including
Maryland and Virginia -- are considering doing so. The potential
benefits to consumers are lower prices and innovation, according to
supporters of deregulation. But environmentalists have warned that
deregulation needs to be designed to prevent potential damage to the
environment that might result from increased use of cheaper, dirtier
fuels. State environmental regulations cap the amount of sulfur
dioxide in coal burned at Chalk Point and Morgantown at 3.5 pounds per
million BTUs (a measure of energy). Since 1995, Pepco has bought only
coal that contained 2.43 pounds of sulfur dioxide per million BTUs,
but now it says it will consider buying coal with as much as 3.5
pounds per million BTUs to lower costs. "To the best of our knowledge,
every utility in the nation is looking at the same options," she said.
Fuel costs represent about a third of the costs customers pay for
power, and customers would receive the benefit of lower costs, she
said. Pepco's new requirements raise the "dangerous specter" of more
air pollution from utility competition, said Frank O'Donnell,
executive director of the Clean Air Trust, a nonprofit environmental
advocacy organization. The Clinton administration is working on a
proposed approach to deregulation that has been hung up, in part, by a
debate over the exte nt environmental objectives should be
incorporated in its plan, according to several administration
officials. The amount of sulfur dioxide in coal is capped under
provisions of the Clean Air Act. But the cap allows plants to use coal
containing higher levels of sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen if
they can buy offsetting reductions in emissions from other utilities.
Felton said Pepco had adopted the lower sulfur dioxide standard at the
Chalk Point and Morgantown plants originally to be on the safe side
and ensure they would meet the targets. The Clean Air Act amendments
were aimed at the nationwide problem of acid rain and would prevent
any worsening of that problem no matter what kind of coal Pepco buys,
said David Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council. But,
according to Hawkins and other environmental activists, higher-sulfur
coal might result in another air quality problem -- higher emissions
of particles. Sulfur dioxide is converted in the air into sulfate
particles, which "create a haze and reduce visibility. If you breathe
them, they contribute to serious health effects, including premature
death," he said. Pepco officials said they believe concerns that their
new standards for coal will degrade air quality are off base. c
Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net