Georgia’s heavy but waning reliance on coal puts it at the center of a debate about how far the nation should go – and how much it should spend — to battle climate change.
Here are five key points to keep in mind about carbon pollution and electricity generation in Georgia.
Coal was king in Georgia. The state has relied heavily on coal-burning plants, giving it cheap energy but also extra air pollution. But Georgia's use of coal power has fallen sharply, from more than 60 percent of electricity generation to about 35 percent, as utilities turned to less expensive natural gas to fuel power plants. Georgia generated 44 percent fewer megawatt hours from coal power last year than in 2007. Electricity from natural gas more than tripled over the same period.
Natural gas has been cheap recently, but… Falling prices for natural gas in recent years have made it an attractive alternative to coal in Georgia, though prices have bounced back a bit. Natural gas cost utilities about $5.86 per million Btu in the first three months of the year compared to about $3.12 for coal. But two years ago, natural gas was significantly cheaper than coal. Price swings are common for natural gas, which seven years ago sold for more than double today's price in the state.
Georgia is being pushed to cut carbon emissions more than most states. The federal government wants the state to slice emissions 44 percent by 2030 compared to 2005. That's more than all but six states. But Georgia should have no more trouble than most states in meeting its target, concluded Sam Shelton, the former director of Georgia Tech's Strategic Energy Institute. The state should have a big head start because of projects already underway, including expansion of carbon-free nuclear power at Plant Vogtle, plans to close some coal plants and work to expand solar energy generation.
We're already paying for environmental controls at power plants. This year, Georgia Power is slated to spend about $543 million on environmental construction projects, and customers already pay an extra monthly fee to cover environmental control costs. A home that used 1,000 kilowatt hours would have a summer-rate monthly bill of $142.85, and the environmental fee would be $8 of that.
Clean solar power use is rising, but still is tiny. Solar accounts for less than 1 percent of Georgia Power's energy mix. But the price to generate solar power has fallen sharply in the last three years and the utility plans to increase use of solar tenfold by late 2016. A recent report by non-profit Ceres ranks Southern Co., Georgia Power's parent, 31st out of 32 big utilities in percentage of sales from renewables. The same report had Southern at the low end of effectiveness for energy efficiency programs.
Metro Atlanta's air is already cleaner. For instance, satellite data from NASA shows that Atlanta has seen a 42 percent decrease in nitrogen dioxide — a different pollutant linked to respiratory problems — between 2005 to 2011.
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