Coal imports costly to state

Tennessee coal imports highlight TVA's reliance on out-of-state fossil fuel for electricity, per Union of Concerned Scientists, and the potential for renewable energy and efficiency to shift power generation, cut emissions, keeping ratepayer dollars local.

Coal may be doing the lion's share of work powering homes and businesses in Tennessee, but most of it comes from far outside the state's borders.

Tennessee ranked eighth in the nation in total net imports of coal, spending $1.21 billion in 2008 to haul in the fossil fuel from as nearby as Kentucky and West Virginia and as far away as Wyoming, reflecting the state's energy appetite for electricity, according to a report released by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The organization analyzed available data reported by utilities to the federal government. More than 99 percent of the coal burned in fossil plants throughout the state came from other states, according to the report. Tennessee also is eighth in the nation when it comes to dependency on coal as a power source, driven in part by a focus on low energy costs across industries, with 62.4 percent of its electricity derived from coal in 2008.

Citing the study as the "first ever report" analyzing coal bought in one state for another state's power production, "we maintain that ratepayers would be better served if the money was kept at home and used to develop ready available renewable technology," said Barbara Freese, senior policy analyst and co-author of the report, "Burning Coal, Burning Cash."

"We certainly look at this issue from all different directions," Freese said. "This is a simple question of how much money leaves the state that doesn't have to leave the state."

Sixty percent of Tennessee's power demand could be met with renewable generation, according to the study, which also said:

• Up to 34 percent of the state's power could come from solar energy.

• 18 percent could come from biomass.

• 6 percent could come from small or low-power hydro sources.

• 1 percent could come from wind.

"To make sure TVA meets clean air emission standards and to ensure our customers have affordably priced power, as outlined in six plausible futures studies, TVA burns a wide variety of coals - some of which are not available in Tennessee," TVA spokesman Jim Allen said via e-mail. "TVA is very interested in developing additional clean and renewable energy sources, and is preparing a draft energy plan to guide choices, however the notion that we could stop buying out-of-state coal and use that money to develop renewables is not realistic."

The report did not do a state-by-state cost analysis for investing in renewable sources of energy - although Freese said while the cost of many clean technologies remains high, environmental regulation, including pollution rules that can create jobs, and potential renewable compliance standards will drive up the price of coal as well.

The report focused more heavily on energy efficiency, citing power savings, where little things count in energy use, as the most cost-effective way to replace fossil power plants and noting that the states most dependent on coal tended to spend little on efficiency programs.

Where utilities don't necessarily have an incentive to promote energy efficiency or adopt renewable energy as major initiatives, Freese said state and federal policies, including potential Washington help for TVA to accelerate progress, need to be crafted that will cut back demand, spur clean energy growth and, in turn, stimulate the local economy.

"Unfortunately, there's a disincentive for utilities to do that, and that's why a strict market view of this doesn't work very well," she said. "That's why having policies that actually require your retail electricity providers to promote energy efficiency among their customers is so essential."

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