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<br />THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
<br />
<br />M FRIDAY. JULY 21, 2006
<br />
<br />Burning Debate
<br />As Emission Restrictions Loom,
<br />Texas Utility Bets Big on Coal
<br />
<br />Planned TXU Plants Raise
<br />Global-Warming Concerns;
<br />Rivals Try New Technology
<br />
<br />Mr. Wilder Cites Demand
<br />
<br />By REBECCA SMITH
<br />
<br />Top executives at many utility compa-
<br />nies have reluctanUy accepted that coal-
<br />, fired power plants contribute to global
<br />warming, and they have beg1lIj planning
<br />for a more restrictive future. '
<br />Then there is C. John Wilder, chief
<br />executive of TXU Corp. The Dallas-based
<br />utility company is racing. to build 11 big
<br />power plants in Texas that will burn pul-
<br />verized coal. That process releases sub-
<br />stantial amounts of carbon dioxide, the
<br />most worrisome of several heat-trapping
<br />gases widely blamed for global wanning.
<br />TXU contends Texas needs a lot more
<br />power, and it wants to be the company to
<br />provide it. Critics of its $If billion con-
<br />struction progrllm see another motiva-
<br />tion: The federal government may slap
<br />
<br />Power Source
<br />
<br />Carbon-dlwdde T.~: 5.6&
<br />emll$lo/l$ from fo$&il-
<br />fuel combUitlon In
<br />the U.S. In 2004,
<br />by fuel typo, In
<br />billions of tons:
<br />
<br />.93.6'l1o Is ffllm
<br />.ltlCIIicil)' &en.ration
<br />
<br />
<br />lXU Corp.', carbon-dioxide eml5slons from
<br />coal are expected to rI$I: '
<br />2005 2011
<br />}~..3 1.uti
<br />!2..7~' l'i '~.'
<br />~,rn:"b. ,..' ,: tl:'11~; to" ,
<br />"""""<\" ~'"
<br />
<br />Emissions. millions of tons
<br />
<br />Share of U.s. CO2 emissions
<br />from coal
<br />
<br />So\IIl*: ElNironmonlll Qo'1OiO Fund; Ihe compallf;
<br />OoPl/lmllnt 0/ ~&Y
<br />
<br />limits on carbon-dioxide emissions. If it
<br />does, plants completed sooner may have
<br />a distinct advantage. That's because the
<br />government may dole. out "allowances"
<br />to release carbon dioxide, and plants up
<br />and running when regulations go into ef-
<br />fect may qualify for more of them than
<br />, those built at a later date.
<br />TXU opposes such regulations, which
<br />could force power companies to build
<br />more complicated and expensive plants.
<br />Other big utility companies, including
<br />American Electric Power Co., Xcel En-
<br />ergy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp., have
<br />proposed newer-style plants that release
<br />fewer pollutants and make it easier to
<br />control carbon-dioxide emissions.
<br />The 11 new plants TXU plans to build
<br />over the next four years would double its
<br />e\ectricity outpul-,jlnd more than double
<br />its carbon-dioxide
<br />emissions. The Envi-
<br />ronmental Defense
<br />Fund, an advocacy
<br />group, estimates
<br />that rxu's annual
<br />carbon-dioxide emis-
<br />sions would jump to
<br />as much as 133 mil-
<br />lion' tons in 2011
<br />when its new plants
<br />are completed, from
<br />55 million tons in
<br />2004, numbers that
<br />the company con- C. John Wilder
<br />firms. The increase
<br />would make TXU the third.largest emitter
<br />of carbon dioxide among U.S. powercompa-
<br />nies, up from No. 10 today.
<br />
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<br />TXU says it has already re~uced c~- . \)' ~ ~
<br />bon-dioxide emissions per unit of elec~c- '\l\ ~ ~
<br />ity produced by adding wind turbmes'......
<br />and nuclear power to its mix. Without I '1--:-' "~
<br />such efforts, its carbon dioxide output ~ "-.., '-'
<br />would be 45% greater, the company says. ~ :;-
<br />Carbon dioxide is produced naturally ~ '- ~ 'i;
<br />wh~n animals breathe and pla~ts decam. D .~ ~
<br />pose. It is a small but essential compo-
<br />nent of the earth's atmosphere. The burn- ~ \j ~
<br />ing of fossil fuels such as coal and g~ ~ -\ ~
<br />line also produces the gas. Carbon diox- '::.:: \! 'l'
<br />ide is building up in the atmosphere, trap. ~
<br />ping heat and warming the globe. Cur- ~,\l\ '\
<br />renUy, the federal government doesn't \ ~ \
<br />classify carbon dioxide as a pollutant ~ ~
<br />and doesn't regulate emissions of it. ~ ,~ '..
<br />The U.S. produces nearly one-<l,u~er i ~ ~ \'
<br />of the world's man-made carbon diOXIde. I l "
<br />It would be difficult for ~e U.S. to make I ,"'1\
<br />meaningful reductions Wlthout coopera- : " \J ~
<br />tion from the power industry. Power I \..J '\"
<br />plants produce 39D1o of U.S. carbon-dioxide' I .;; ';
<br />emissions, and four-fifths of that amount I ........... .,
<br />CQmesfromcoal-tiredpowerpl~nts,' Texas ~ ~ '
<br />is responsible for 10% of the natIOn s total, ~ '\ .
<br />more than any other state. , .~ "\
<br />J. Wayne Leonard, chief executive of. '\,) ~
<br />ticer of Entergy Corp., a New Orleans- ")j ~ '
<br />based utility holding company where Mr. ~ \'< "-
<br />Wilder once worked. as chief fi.nancial of- ~ \ ---.. '
<br />ficer, says the sCIence behind gl~bal '{:: ,
<br />warming is persuasive and carbon-diox- -f) '",,-
<br />ide regulation is inevitable and neces- ~
<br />sary. He caUs it' "unacceptable" for "-
<br />power companies to build lots of new '. ~ ~,
<br />plants heedless of the environmental ef- ~ -........:...
<br />feet of carbon dioxide. Unless proof ~
<br />emerges that the scientific data are ~ '~'
<br />flawed, says Mr. Leonard, "you stop do- L \ . ~
<br />ing what you're doing because you're put- "-.l ~ ,
<br />ting all mankind at ri~" . '-. '-..,:,
<br />"Entergy~some ai-fired plants, ~
<br />but makes st of its e tricity from \1\
<br />nuclear fuel an from b . g natural
<br />gas, which produc'~ess carboR-.dioxide
<br />than coal. It intends develop m~ nu-
<br />clear facilities, which 't bills as "t~
<br />emission." Other utility companies are
<br />investing in new COal-burning technology
<br />that is capable of Significantly reducing
<br />carbon-dioxide emissions.
<br />"There's no question we're planning
<br />to meet energy needs differently today
<br />than 20 years ago," says Peter Sheffield,
<br />a spokesman for Duke Energy of Char-
<br />lotte, N.C., which has invested in an
<br />alternative coal technology designed to
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