While reading my Sunday Dallas Morning News (7/30/2006), I found an editorial article (See below) defining potential relief for the future of our polluted skies. The editorial “FutureGen power plant offers hope…” discusses a new Clean Coal technology being considered for a test site (A $1 Billion Government funded power plant project) for construction in one of two Texas towns. Reading on, we find that Texas must vie with Illinois for the plant, as they have two remaining towns in the running too, down from the twelve original sites being considered nation wide.

As a native Illinoisan, but nearly half of my life in Texas , I was initially torn between my native and adopted states receiving this important project. This is a no-lose proposition for me personally. If Illinois is declared the winner it would help clean the skies where most of my relative’s kid’s are still growing up. But if Texas wins, my kid’s breathe easier year round! (My eldest has asthma as do many kids living in US population centers) Then I read the second half of the article to find that Texas is truly needier than Illinois . For all of our sakes, I hope the needier State wins! Some select statements & fact from the rest of the story subtitled “But Texas’ record is embarrassing”:

• Texas is virtually ground zero for power plant pollution
• Texas , for example, has 6 power plants among the nations 50 filthiest when measured by the rate that plants emit Carbon Dioxide. More than any other state.
• American Electric Power’s (AEP) Pirkey plant near Longview led the nation and 4 other TXU power plants were among the 17 dirtiest on the rate of mercury emissions measured (A by-product of burning coal)
• The article goes on to state there is no reason for Texas to continue to fast-track 16 new coal-fired power plants which would double the amount of coal-fired plants currently in use. (Thus doubling the amount of pollution produced)

Coal is a significant amount of the total electricity generation in Texas with more than 30% of all generating power plants using low grade coal as their fuel source. Additionally, most use decades-old, inefficient technology that converts the coal into electricity and produces the pollutants we breathe. Now the Utilities want more dirty coal technology and the State wants to grant them permission to throw them up in a hurry!

Since these new power plants will not likely be available any time soon, there are two things we can do in the interim to reduce the impact of these existing power plants and reduce the need to build more. The first, which is the quickest and cheapest and most responsible plan, is to conserve on electricity use. While it is not in everyone’s DNA to sacrifice their preferred lifestyle for the ideals of the environmentalists, the second action item involves something ALL Texan’s want to do! SAVE MONEY! Personally, I migrate to the middle and do both. Here is how we can all make a difference…………..

Many consumers of electricity in Texas are still not aware that most of us can choose our electricity provider using two items available to most Texan’s to rank their utility provider. Some have never strayed from their incumbent Electricity provider (In North Texas it is either TXU Energy or First Choice Power; two of the top polluters per table 1.1) and that is certainly their choice to keep using them. As a result of Electricity deregulation however, we can now choose a Retail Electric Provider (REP) based on the following information that each REP must provide to you by law:

1. Unit Price of Energy ($/kWh) and
2. Pollution Emissions to the Environment

The first one is easy for all to understand as you simply take the $/kWh and multiply it by the metered use of electricity (kWh) shown on your monthly bill to get the amount you must pay. It’s always too much, but at least it’s easy to follow the math. The second item however, is not as well understood and certainly not as well reported based on my personal experience of obtaining this information on the www.Powertochoose.com website, where you can go to shop for your REP.

Therefore, in and effort to simplify the process, I have devised a relatively simple Environmental Index from the published emissions data on both air emissions and nuclear waste from those who have reported it on the site. Both of these bits of data are provided on what is called the Energy Facts Label (EFL) that you can also get on the website. The emissions data includes 5 factors (Carbon, Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Particulates and Nuclear Waste) that all contribute to polluting the environment. This data is kind of like the information the FDA requires on all consumable products that we eat or drink. Makes sense to label the energy we use as it directly impacts the air we breathe.

The emissions scale is simple in that the Texas average for all pollutants reported is based on 100 being the average. If a REP reports less than 100 they are better than their peers and if reporting more than 100, they are worse. So the environmental index is also based on some simple math. You add all of the reported amounts together and divide that sum by the total possible (500). Resulting in a good score being a lower number and a poor score is higher, just like the price! The energy rate ($/kWh) in the table and the environmental score info is sorted from lowest to highest with price first and environmental index second. Now you can view both sets of data in one table and decide how “Green” you want to be along with how price savvy.

The interesting thing is that there are several providers you can choose from that are below the price to beat for TXU and also have far lower emissions ratings. The prices and emissions data changes periodically so you need to keep shopping from time to time. Also pay attention to the type of rate you choose. If it is monthly rate you need to pay closer attention to your billing rate than if it is a fixed rate as the energy price fluctuates with fuel costs. If the rate is not published on your bill then you can do the math yourself in a few seconds each month by dividing the kWh by the total billed amount. Based on my most current review, the cheapest provider is also one with low-emissions too. Seems like a no-brainer to me………..

Ken Sidebottom is a LEED Project Development Consultant for Johnson Controls. For additional information regarding this article, please contact Ken at ken.e.sidebottom@jci.com. All comments are the sole responsibility of the author. 

This article was originally posted 11/7/06.