{"301391":{"#nid":"301391","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Marilyn Brown on EnergyWire: Lack of energy efficiency in the South","body":[{"value":"\u003Ch3\u003EKristi E. Swartz, E\u0026amp;E reporter\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERegulators in the Southeast are known for deferring to the interests of the major utilities, but U.S. EPA\u0027s proposed rules to stem carbon pollution could force utility commissioners to make unpopular decisions around rates, fuel choice, generation mix and efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EPA rules and emissions targets are tailored for each state (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eenews.net\/greenwire\/2014\/06\/02\/stories\/1060000557\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGreenwire\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, June 2). Some Southern states like Georgia and Tennessee already have made the transition away from coal to natural gas and have adopted renewables more willingly than their neighbors in Alabama, for example. Mississippi has strong energy efficiency programs, and North Carolina has had a renewable portfolio standard in place for several years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe region is also the only one where several states are building or plan to build new nuclear reactors, which are emission free.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut coal was the dominant method for keeping the lights on in the South for decades, and regulators argue that moving away from the fuel even more means utilities will have less diversity, and consumers will face higher prices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You\u0027ve got President Obama and his EPA receiving a fair amount of accolades for coming up with this rule, and I\u0027m stuck here in Georgia handing out the bill,\u0022 said Georgia Public Service Commission Chairman Chuck Eaton.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia is one of the few states in the Southeast with a diverse electricity mix that includes nuclear power and doesn\u0027t draw more than half of its fuel from any one source. The state also will get a greater source of power from solar over the next couple of years (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eenews.net\/energywire\/stories\/1060000194\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEnergyWire\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, May 27).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore than a dozen of Georgia\u0027s coal- and oil-fired plants already are slated to be closed as part of parent Southern Co.\u0027s plan to take 20,000 megawatts of coal off the grid to comply with previous environmental regulations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven with those efforts, yesterday\u0027s proposed rule will make it harder for utility regulators to control the price of what customers pay if coal continues to be less of an option, another commissioner said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Even if we have made significant gains (to cut back on coal use), the problem is that it determines what economic dispatch will be made by the utility,\u0022 Georgia utility regulator Stan Wise told\u003Cem\u003EEnergyWire\u003C\/em\u003E. \u0022Instead of burning coal on a hot summer day, they are going to be forced to use other resources that may not be the least-cost option.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome regulators in other states deferred comment to their environmental protection agencies but agreed that it was the PSC that would have to sign off on any plant closures, changes to a utility\u0027s generation mix and whether customers would pay for those costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElectric companies said they are continuing to evaluate the proposal, which requires them to meet targets that would result in a 30 percent CO2 reduction nationwide compared with 2005 levels by 2030.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003EBig actors\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe South is the home to two of the nation\u0027s largest utilities, Duke Energy Corp. and Southern Co., which have taken steps to cut carbon emissions. Duke has reduced its emissions 20 percent based on 2005 levels, the company said. Southern has cut its carbon emission levels by 26 percent based on that level, CEO Tom Fanning said at the company\u0027s annual meeting last week.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 2005 baseline \u0022is going to really ease the pain in the South,\u0022 said Marilyn Brown, a professor at Georgia Tech\u0027s school of public policy and a board member of the Tennessee Valley Authority.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESouthern is now the nation\u0027s third-largest consumer of natural gas, but shaking its historic image as a coal utility will take a while, despite the company\u0027s efforts to promote its uses of gas, nuclear and renewables (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eenews.net\/energywire\/stories\/1060000336\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEnergyWire\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, May 29).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESouthern\u0027s smaller utility subsidiaries, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power, now get more than 60 percent of their electricity from natural gas. Alabama Power still gets slightly more than half of its electricity from coal, however.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We think this is a really important issue,\u0022 Fanning told shareholders after being questioned about Southern\u0027s actions to reduce carbon emissions. Southern\u0027s words aren\u0027t rhetoric, he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the meeting, Fanning touted Southern\u0027s involvement in the National Carbon Capture Research Center. The company\u0027s Mississippi Power subsidiary also is building a next-generation coal plant in Kemper County. The project has made news because of cost overruns, but Southern is hoping to expand the project\u0027s coal-gasification technology (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eenews.net\/energywire\/stories\/1059997769\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEnergyWire\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;April 11).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut two of Southern\u0027s traditional coal-fired plants routinely stand out as well. Georgia Power\u0027s Plant Scherer and Alabama Power\u0027s Plant Miller rank No. 1 and 2 on the list of CO2-emitting power plants in the United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPlant Scherer routinely ranks at the top of the list because of its size.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003EEfficiency lags\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStates can use energy efficiency to help meet their targets, but this is one area where the Southeast falls short.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollectively, the states have spent half of what the others have on energy-efficient programs, said Brown at Georgia Tech. Where some states have strong energy efficient programs, those actions may be only pilot programs in the South, she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The South is one of the most energy inefficient regions in the country,\u0022 Brown said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere\u0027s been little incentive for utilities to invest in energy-efficiency programs in the Southeast because electricity prices have been so cheap, Brown said. She\u0027s hoping that changes now that energy efficiency has more value.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBrown and other environmental advocates point to TVA as a model for cutting emissions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETVA\u0027s carbon emission levels already are more than 17 percent below what they were in 2005, according to the utility\u0027s figures. It is on track to reduce CO2 levels to 40 percent of what they were in 2005 by 2020, company officials say (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eenews.net\/energywire\/stories\/1059998619\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEnergyWire\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;April 29).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETVA is in the middle of hashing out a long-term energy plan, which includes additional carbon reductions. As a federally owned utility, TVA must follow a mission -- energy, environment and economic development -- which includes taking care of the natural resources and communities in the seven states it serves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a conference call with reporters, TVA CEO Bill Johnson said the utility has been lucky to find a \u0022sweet spot\u0022 in lower-emitting fuels that are also less expensive. It will be a challenge to continue to do that going forward.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re going to have to work harder and be smarter,\u0022 he said. \u0022Over the last five years, we\u0027ve done a lot of work in this space, we still have very competitive rates, still attract business and industry to this region. We know what that sweet spot is, and we\u0027re going to have to work harder to get there.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECopyright 2014, Environment and Energy Publishing LLC. Reprinted with permission.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Southeast regulators fret about loss of price controls"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"EPA\u0027s proposed rules to stem carbon pollution could force utility commissioners to make unpopular decisions around rates, fuel choice, generation mix and efficiency."}],"uid":"28034","created_gmt":"2014-06-05 10:17:45","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:33","author":"Leslie Ross","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"280061":{"id":"280061","type":"image","title":"Marilyn Brown","body":null,"created":"1449244184","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:49:44","changed":"1475894973","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:33","alt":"Marilyn Brown","file":{"fid":"198897","name":"brown.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brown_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/brown_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":166648,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/brown_0.jpg?itok=NwEEerNH"}}},"media_ids":["280061"],"groups":[{"id":"1289","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"}],"keywords":[{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"330","name":"Marilyn Brown"},{"id":"167090","name":"SPP"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}