A RETURN ON INVESTMENT

New opinion from NewEnergyNews columnist Anne B. Butterfield.

A return on investment
Anne B. Butterfield, January 3, 2009 (Daily Camera)

This new year arrives doused in crises and scandals, but it is not without small signs of progress to address one additional gathering threat. That threat is a likely increase in the cost of coal-based electricity.

Power companies that use coal to generate electricity will face billions of dollars of new costs each year if new regulation is enacted over how they store the ashy remains of the black rock. The Christmas spill of a billion gallons of watery gunk laced with heavy metals that cloaked 300 acres in eastern Tennessee is a shameful mandate for new regulation. Though the Bush Administration stalled efforts to tighten rules on this waste management, utilities and ash recyclers are expecting new federal regulation.

Coal ash spills waiting to happen -- cont'd below. (from a 2006 study - click to enlarge)

So there really is no such thing as a free lunch; coal is slowly becoming as expensive as it is dangerous. And in Colorado, about 80 percent of our power comes from burning coal.

The good news that will help protect Colorado from price spikes comes from a concerted change of thinking about efficiency. This week, our state's largest utility Xcel announced plans to launch an aggressive efficiency program that will save up to 670 megawatts, or the equivalent of one large scale power plant. The plan includes demand side management which involves programming air conditioners to turn off briefly during peak demand periods with virtually no impact on comfort levels and big savings on usage. It can save up to $450 million of net economic benefits to customers, according to Xcel.

Coal ash spills waiting to happen -- cont'd from above. (from a 2006 study - click to enlarge)

And we can hope that the part of Colorado not served by Xcel will also see improvements in efficiency due to the expertise of Dr. Steven Chu, the new Secretary of Energy designate. He has directed the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory which developed a lion's share of the efficiency technologies known to have yielded profound return on investment, like 40 to 1.

At this moment of cascading crises in our economy, we can use some that action: profound return on investment. How sweet the sound.