Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Energy Industry Strikes Out on Its Own

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Energy Industry Strikes Out on Its Own

A group of utility executives who once lobbied Congress to cap greenhouse-gas emissions say they are now pressing ahead with their own efforts to clean up the industry.
"We're making our own destiny," said Chris Gould, vice president of corporate strategy for Exelon Corp. in Chicago, the nation's largest owner of nuclear-power plants and one of the biggest backers of the failed "cap and trade" legislation.

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Bloomberg News

Water vapor is emitted from cooling towers at Exelon Corp.'s Limerick nuclear power generating station in Limerick, Pa.

The new, take-charge attitude is motivated not only by environmental concerns. The industry has identified what it believes are opportunities to make lucrative investments in such things as transmission lines, advanced meters, enhancements to existing power plants, and electric vehicle infrastructure.
In a blueprint released last week, Exelon executives said their 13-state region could achieve reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions nearly equal to what federal legislation might have achieved in the next decade by pressing ahead with activities already encouraged by state and federal regulators.
Exelon plans to spend more than $5 billion by 2017 in ways that should cut its greenhouse-gas emissions. It includes as much as $290 million a year on energy-efficiency programs at utilities it owns in Illinois and Pennsylvania and $3.8 billion to increase the capacity of its existing nuclear plants by up to 1,500 megawatts.
More at:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703559504575631010457589470.html