Later this week a committee of state lawmakers is expected to vote on ?The Clean Power Act? -- a bill designed to reduce emissions from the three-coal-and-oil fired power plants owned by PSNH. Much of the debate over the bill centers on trading. Trading enables power plants to buy pollution credits from other plants that have done a better-than-required job of reducing their emissions. The debate in Concord is whether trading offers the best means of improving New Hampshire?s air. NHPR?s Doug MacPherson reports.
TRADING ISN?T A NEW IDEA ? THE FEDERAL ACID RAIN REDUCTION PROGRAM HAS EMPLOYED IT SINCE 1995. THE GOAL OF TRADING IS TO GIVE UTILITIES A MARKET-BASED INCENTIVE TO ACHIEVE MORE EMISSION CUTS FASTER. SUPPORTERS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE?S CLEAN POWER ACT WANT TO USE THE FED?S PROGRAM AS A MODEL TO ACHIEVE FURTHER EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. ONE OF THE BIGGEST SUPPORTERS OF TRADING IN THE STATE IS KEN COLBURN ? HEAD OF THE AIR RESOURCES DIVISION AT D-E-S. COLBURN MAINTAINS THAT NEW HAMPSHIRE DOESN?T HAVE AN IN-STATE POLLUTION PROBLEM SO MUCH AS IT HAS AN OUT-OF-STATE POLLUTION PROBLEM THAT THE PREVAILING WINDS BLOW INTO NEW HAMPSHIRE.
TAPE FOUR KEN COLBURN 228 transported pollution is the principal source of air pollution in nh. And trading //// actually secures those reductions upwind, where they will benefit new hampshire residents, to a greater extent than having them occur here. :15
TRADING WORKS LIKE THIS: REGULATORS LIMIT EVERY POWER PLANT?S EMISSIONS TO A CERTAIN AMOUNT ANNUALLY. IN ESSENCE, PLANTS RECEIVE A PERMIT TO EMIT ?X? AMOUNT OF A GIVEN POLLUTANT ? SAY, THREE TONS. NOW IMAGINE YOU HAVE TWO POWER PLANTS THAT EACH CURRENTLY PUT OUT FOUR-TONS OF A POLLUTANT. ONE PLANT MAY FIND IT COST-EFFICIENT TO INVEST IN EQUIPMENT TO CUT ITS EMISSIONS TO TWO TONS. THE OTHER PLANT MAY FIND IT?S NOT COST-EFFICIENT, AND MAKES NO REDUCTIONS. INSTEAD, IT PAYS THE FIRST PLANT FOR ITS LEFT-OVER ONE-TON CREDIT. IN THE END, TWO PLANTS THAT TOGETHER USED TO PUT OUT EIGHT TONS OF POLLUTION ? NOW PUT OUT SIX TONS. BUT THE OVERALL TWO TON REDUCTION LIKELY COSTS LESS THAN IF EACH PLANT HAD TO INSTALL NEW EQUIPMENT.
CRITICS OF TRADING SAY IT WORKS FINE FOR SOME KINDS OF POLLUTANTS. CARBON DIOXIDE, FOR EXAMPLE ? THE BIGGEST SINGLE CONTRIBUTOR TO CLIMATE CHANGE. A REDUCTION IN C-O2 BENEFITS NEW HAMPSHIRE?S AIR TO THE SAME DEGREE, NO MATTER WHERE IN THE WORLD IT TAKES PLACE. BUT IN TESTIMONY TO STATE LAWMAKERS THIS MONTH, STEVE BLACKLEDGE, HEAD OF NEW HAMPSHIRE PIRG, SAID WHEN IT COMES TO OTHER KINDS OF POLLUTANTS, OUT-OF-STATE REDUCTIONS DON?T HELP NEW HAMPSHIRE?S AIR.
TAPE FIVE, STEVE BLACKLEDGE, NH PIRG 349 the way it works out is that nh ratepayers will pay for the pollution credits that PSNH buys as a result of this bill. But the clean ups won?t take place in nh. Now they could occur in nearby states where we would enjoy some benefits, or they could occur further away, like texas, the Midwest, or even the west. For the most part the pollutants addressed in this bill don?t travel that far. Thus we?ll have nh ratepayers paying higher electric bills, while the citizens of some other states enjoy the cleaner air. :35
BLACKLEDGE IS PARTICULARLY CONCERNED ABOUT SULFUR DIOXIDE ? BETTER KNOWN AS SOX. SOX IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO ACID RAIN, AND FINE PARTICULATES OF SULFUR DAMAGE HUMAN HEALTH. THE PROPOSED CLEAN POWER ACT CALLS FOR A 75-PERCENT REDUCTION IN SOX BY 2007. P-S-N-H?S PLANTS ARE OLD, AND IT WOULD BE EXPENSIVE FOR THE COMPANY TO INSTALL POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT TO REDUCE SOX. MOST OBSERVERS BELIEVE P-S-N-H WOULD CHOOSE TO BUY CREDITS FROM OUT-OF-STATE UTILITIES. A SCIENTIST FOR THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB TESTIFIED THAT IF P?S-N-H BUYS CREDITS FROM FURTHER SOUTH THAN VIRGINIA, OR FURTHER WEST THAN OHIO, NEW HAMPSHIRE?S AIR WOULD HARDLY BENEFIT. D-E-S?S KEN COLBURN ADMITS THE BILL PROVIDES NO GUARANTEE OF WHERE CREDITS WOULD BE PURCHASED. BUT COLBURN POINTS TO WHERE
P-S-N-H HAS BEEN BUYING SOX CREDITS FOR YEARS, AS PART OF THE ACID RAIN REDUCTION PROGRAM.
TAPE FOUR KEN COLBURN 137 let?s look at what history actually shows. //// every ton of sulfur that PSNH has purchased, to the best of my knowledge at least, came out of the area that the AMC described to you as it?s preferred area. /// no tons were purchased by PSNH from California, from Arizona, or from Texas. :19
COLBURN SAYS THERE?S A REASON FOR THAT: MOST OF THE CREDITS AVAILABLE FOR SALE COME FROM COAL-FIRED PLANTS IN THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY. THE BILL ALSO PROVIDES A FURTHER INCENTIVE: THE STATE WOULD GRANT A 25-PERCENT-PREMIUM FOR EVERY CREDIT PURCHASED FROM A STATE DIRECTLY UPWIND.
STILL, SOME CRITICS BELIEVE THESE INCENTIVES DON?T GO FAR ENOUGH TO PROTECT THE HEALTH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE RESIDENTS. THEY WANT THE BILL TO INCLUDE LANGUAGE THAT REQUIRES P-S-N-H TO MAKE CUTS AT HOME. DOUG BOGEN IS WITH CLEAN WATER ACTION.
TAPE THREE, DOUG BOGEN 045 pollution from new hampshire power plants is having a deleterious effect on nh?s environment and public health. Therefore, power plant pollution reduction legislation that doesn?t actually require any reductions from new hampshire?s plants is doing a disservice to the people and environment of this state. :18
BOGEN POINTS TO A STUDY CONDUCTED BY THE HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH. IT TRACKED AIR POLLUTION FROM TWO COAL FIRED PLANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS, AND FOUND THAT THE HEALTH RISKS FROM EXPOSURE TO SULFATE PARTICLES WERE GREATEST FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVED CLOSER TO THE PLANTS. THEREFORE, BOGEN ARGUES, NEW HAMPSHIRE RESIDENTS BENEFIT MOST WHEN CUTS ARE MADE LOCALLY.
D-E-S OFFICIALS COUNTER THAT THE REPORT ONLY LOOKED AT SULFUR PARTICLES FROM THE TWO PLANTS STUDIED ? AND THAT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEARLY ALL THE PARTICLES PEOPLE BREATH COME FROM OUT OF STATE.
P-S-N-H ESTIMATES THE COST OF INSTALLING THE LATEST SULFUR EMISSIONS CONTROL TECHNOLOGY ON ITS LARGEST GENERATOR IN BOW TO BE BETWEEN 130 AND 160-MILLION DOLLARS. ACCORDING TO M-S-B-E ENERGY ASSOCIATES, A NATIONAL CONSULTING FIRM BASED IN WISCONSIN, THAT WOULD ADD BETWEEN THREE AND FOUR DOLLARS A MONTH TO THE AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER?S ELECTRIC BILL. POLLS CONSISTENTLY SHOW THAT RATEPAYERS ARE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR CLEANER AIR ? ONE POLL LAST YEAR FOUND THAT 70-PERCENT OF REGISTERED VOTERS WERE WILLING TO PAY UP TO TEN-DOLLARS A MONTH.
BUT IN THE LONG RUN, P-S-N-H?S LARGER PROBLEM MAY BE COMPETITION. TWO NATURAL GAS PLANTS ARE SCHEDULED TO COME ON LINE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE NEXT YEAR. THEY ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE CLEAN, COMPETITIVELY PRICED POWER. REPRESENTATIVE JEB BRADLEY OF WOLFEBORO, CO-SPONSOR OF THE CLEAN POWER ACT,
WORRIES THAT FORCING P-S-N-H?S COAL FIRED PLANTS TO CLEAN UP MAY PUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS.
TAPE JEB BRADLEY 249 in the absence of trading, it?s not likely that PSNH will be able to efficiently operate those plants. :10
BRADLEY WANTS TO PRESERVE ENERGY DIVERSITY -- HE SAYS NEW HAMPSHIRE CAN?T AFFORD TO BECOME OVERLY RELIANT ON NATURAL GAS.
SUPPORTERS OF CREDIT TRADING POINT OUT THAT ITS USE IN THE FEDERAL ACID RAIN PROGRAM HAS ENCOURAGED SULFUR DIOXIDE REDUCTIONS 30-PERCENT BEYOND COMPLIANCE. THEY ALSO HOPE NEW HAMPSHIRE?S CLEAN POWER ACT WOULD SERVE AS A MODEL FOR OTHER STATES, AND AS A SPUR TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ENACT STEEPER EMISSIONS CUTS.
FINALLY, HOWEVER, THE MOST PRAGMATIC ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF CREDIT TRADING MAY BE THAT P-S-N-H HAS MADE IT CLEAR THAT IT WILL OPPOSE ANY REDUCTIONS PLAN THAT DOESN?T INCLUDE THEM ?
A FACT THAT CARRIES SUBSTANTIAL WEIGHT WITH MANY STATE LAWMAKERS. THAT, IN TURN, HELPED CONVINCE MANY ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS IN THE STATE, INCLUDING THE AUDUBON SOCIETY, TO SUPPORT THE CLEAN POWER ACT ? WITH CREDIT TRADING. JULIAN ZELAZNY IS AUDUBON?S POLICY DIRECTOR.
TAPE ZELAZNY 120 knowing that this bill was going no where without sulfur trading, we accept and support and defend the sulfur trading that?s in the bill.
THE HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE IS SCHEDULED TO VOTE ON THE CLEAN POWER ACT ON WEDNESDAY. MOST OBSERVES EXPECT THE COMMITTEE TO APPROVE THE BILL AS IS. THE BILL THEN MOVES ON TO THE FULL HOUSE FOR A VOTE EARLY NEXT YEAR . FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, I?M DOUG MACPHERSON.
