Case Studies

Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs

On April 19, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed into law the Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, which will retire or retrofit older coal-fired power plants and embrace greater use of natural gas and other clean energy sources. This landmark legislation has unified lawmakers from both parties, as well as stakeholders throughout Colorado including power companies, natural gas companies, and the business and environmental communities.

Under this approach, which is currently before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission:

  • Xcel Energy, a leading provider of electricity in the state, would retire or retrofit older coal-fired power plants along the Front Range of the Rockies (an EPA non-attainment area) and increase its use of natural gas and other clean energy alternatives.
  • This move will reduce NOx emissions by 80% over the next eight years-and likely sooner.
  • Greater use of this abundant Colorado energy source also will add to the more than 130,000 jobs already supported by natural gas in the state.

This effort demonstrates that natural gas is ready now to play a growing role in communities across the nation, as they search for cleaner sources of energy and powerful new opportunities to fuel new job creation and economic growth.

 

Louisiana PSC Backs Nat Gas, Renewables

This June, after a year of formal and informal meetings, including those of the Louisiana Renewable Task Force, the state's Public Service Commission approved a Renewable Energy Pilot Program in lieu of a mandate-based renewable portfolio standard that would have required 12.5% RPS in the state.  The pilot program includes combined heat & power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, in the definition of renewable energy.

According to the PSC staff, the program will allow the Commission to accomplish its stated policy goals of providing:

  • Additional resources that result in reliable and economical long-term electric supply
  • Diversification of Louisiana's fuel mix
  • Greater energy security
  • Encouragement of private investment and job creation
  • Improvement of air quality, and
  • Development of in-state resources.

By including CHP in the renewables definition, the LPSC explicitly recognized that natural gas should be a central player in Louisiana's renewable energy policy. CHP, along with waste heat, is expected to set the floor price in the long term renewable energy RFP that the utilities are required to submit, saving consumers - and the state - money, while cleaning the air, and building on the 267,000 jobs natural gas already supported in the state by 2008.

Progress Energy Carolinas Goes With Nat Gas

In June, 2010, the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) granted Progress Energy Carolinas approval to build a 620 MW, natural gas plant as part of its effort to shut down its older "un-scrubbed" coal units over the next several years, saying it was actually cheaper to build a new natural gas plant than add the environmental controls to existing coal plants that would be required to keep them operational.  The newly approved certificate requires Progress to retire the three coal units, totaling about 600 MW, when the new gas unit comes online.

The new unit, scheduled to come online in 2014, will comprise two combustion turbines, two heat recovery steam generators and a steam turbine.

"[I]t is more cost-effective for [Progress] to retire its existing coal-fired Sutton units and replace them with the proposed generating facility than to install the environmental controls and incur the handling, disposal and storage costs necessary to allow their continued operation," The NCUC said in its order.

The NCUC also agreed with Progress that simply retiring the coal units is not an option, given the needed voltage support that the Sutton plant provides to the portion of the utility's service area in southeastern North Carolina.

Progress' combined-cycle power plant will reduce CO2 emissions by 40-50% along with a more than 95% drop in NOx emissions and a virtual elimination of sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions.

Nat Gas is #1 for California Energy

The State of California - known for its progressive views on environmental issues and the reduction of greenhouse gases - has embraced the use of natural gas as a major part of its energy plans.  California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has committed the state to an energy portfolio that is economic, diverse, dependable and environmentally sound. Natural gas plays a big part in that plan.

Natural gas is the #1 choice for electricity generation in California, providing an estimated 46.5% of California's electric power, according to the California Energy Commission's 2008 Energy Almanac.

California has been an innovator in partnering natural gas with renewable energy to ensure the reliability of its electric power supply. A plant jointly operated by FPL Energy, Luz and Southern California Edison provides solar power during sunny hours and uses natural gas as a backup and for summer peaks in demand, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. The 80-megawatt plant is a good illustration of using two environmentally friendly energy sources in tandem - solar power and low-emission natural gas - to deliver reliable electric power for the Harper Lake area in the Mojave Desert.