Open AccessThe effects of Title IV of the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 on electric utilities: An update
Publication year - 1997
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/456313
Subject(s) - clean air act , legislature , flexibility (engineering) , compliance (psychology) , coal , business , waste management , sulfur dioxide , phase (matter) , operations management , environmental economics , engineering , air pollution , law , political science , economics , chemistry , management , psychology , social psychology , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry
This report presents data and analyses related to Phase I implementation of the Clean Air Act Amendment by electric utilities. It describes the strategies used to comply with the Acid Rain Program in 1995, the effect of compliance on sulfur dioxide emissions levels, the cost of compliance, and the effects of the program on coal supply and demand. The first year of Phase I demonstrated that the market-based sulfur dioxide emissions control system could achieve significant reductions in emissions at lower than expected costs. Some utilities reduced aggregate emissions below legal requirements due to economic incentives; other utilities purchased additional allowances to avoid noncompliance. More than half of the utilities switched to or blended with lower sulfur coal, due to price reductions in the coal market which were partially due to the allowance trading program. 21 figs., 20 tabs