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Investing in America’s Electric Future. Morry Markowitz Group Director, External Affairs New Mexico Utility Shareholders Alliance October 7, 2009. Demand for Electricity Is Projected to Increase 27% by 2030. Annual Electricity Use in the Typical U.S. Home Has Increased 60% Since 1970.
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Investing in America’s Electric Future Morry Markowitz Group Director, External Affairs New Mexico Utility Shareholders Alliance October 7, 2009
Annual Electricity Use in the Typical U.S. Home Has Increased 60% Since 1970 Average Annual Kilowatt-hour Sold Per Residential Customer
Investments in Generation • Inefficient, older power plants will be retired; new plants built. • 240 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity will be needed by 2030.* • New capacity costs likely will be in excess of $400 billion. *Source: Energy Information Administration
Transmission Investments Transmission Investments By Shareholder-Owned Electric Utilities • Nearly $75 billion will have been invested between 2000 and 2010. • Customers will benefit from newer technologies and reliability.
Environmental Compliance Costs • From 2002-2005, the electric power industry spent at least $21 billion on compliance with federal environmental laws; state and local rules drive costs even higher. • EPA estimates that two rulemakings—the Clean Air Interstate Rule and the Clean Air Mercury Rule—will cost electric utilities and their customers almost $50 billion from 2007 to 2025.* • The research, design, development and deployment of new technologies needed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will require additional investments. * CAMR is currently being resolved in the courts; compliance costs could rise under alternative regulatory regimes
Energy-Efficiency and DSM Programs Are Making a Difference • Between 1989 and 2007, electric company demand-side management (DSM) programs saved 929 billion kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity—enough to power 83 million average U.S. homes for one year. • These savings are equal to the annual electricity output of 147 baseload power plants [rated at 800 megawatts (MW) each and operating at a 90% capacity factor]. • Electric utilities have spent nearly $35 billion on DSM programs from 1989-2007.
The Role of Renewables Benefits and Challenges
Benefits of Renewables • Help promote fuel diversity • Produce minimal environmental impact • Largely free of carbon dioxide emissions • Low or no fuel costs
Challenges Facing Renewables • High initial capital costs • Geographic limitations • Variable nature • Transmission availability and cost • Frequent expiration of production tax credit • Environmental and aesthetic challenges (NIMBY)
Industry Climate Change Principles • EEI supports legislative proposals in Congress to reduce GHG emissions that: • Sets targets and timetables for greenhouse gas emissions reductions that are reasonable and achievable to help prevent sharp increases in electricity prices; • Allocates emissions allowances to the electricity sector for a transitional period; • Includes a “price collar,” or upper and lower limits on the price of emissions allowances; and • Promotes energy efficiency, renewable energy, new nuclear generation, and new advanced coal generation technologies with carbon capture and storage. * The full text of the EEI climate change principles is available at www.eei.org.
Addressing climate change requires an aggressive and sustained commitment to a full set of technologies, including: Efficiency Renewables Clean coal technologies Carbon capture and storage Nuclear Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles What Will It Take?
CO2 Reductions…What’s Technically Feasible?* EIA Base Case 2008 EIA Base Case 2007 *Achieving all targets is very aggressive, but potentially feasible
Auctioning Allowances Would Sharply Increase Costs to Customers
Dividend Tax Rate Reduction • Currently at 15%, set to expire at the end of 2010. • Vital to shareholders and the industry. • Proposals by President Obama and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) would cap rate at 20%. ($200K for individuals, $250K for families) • Majority of shareholders would remain at 15%. • EEI and AGA coalition to support keeping dividend tax rate low. Visit www.defendmydividend.org . • Sign up today!