Enron Corp.'s chairman and chief executive officer has called on U.S. electricity generators to adopt a "natural gas Standards"
The standard effectively would ban construction of coal or nuclear fueled power plants.
Kenneth L. Lay, speaking at an Institute of Gas Technology conference in Chicago, said the U.S. power generation industry is being asked to help stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and enhance industrial competitiveness by producing enough cost effective electricity to serve unspecified demand growth while protecting the environment.
But environmental protection and economic growth need not be mutually exclusive, he said.
"I believe the solution is a natural gas standard, which simply means no new coal or nuclear power generating stations should be built unless they produce electricity cleaner, cheaper, or more reliably than gas combined cycle plants."
Lay said U.S. electrical power production in 1990 generated 66% of all sulfur dioxide, 37% of nitrogen oxides, and 35% of carbon dioxide emissions.
But a new gas combined cycle power plant emits virtually no SO2 and cuts NOx emissions by 80% and CO2 emissions by 58%, compared with a new coal plant.
Also, he said, electricity generated by natural gas is 30%/kw-hr cheaper than coal fired electricity, and gas combined cycle power generation costs 50%/kw-hr less than nuclear generated power.
A lo/kw-hr decline in average consumer electricity prices would save a U.S. family of four about $432/year. In addition, gas fired power plants can be built for about one-third the cost of a new coal fired plant and in only 2-3 years, compared with 3-8 years.
Lay said gas combined cycle plants have recorded high levels of reliability. Availability of power from gas combined cycle plants during the past 5 years has averaged 95%, compared with 79% for coal fired plants and 66% for nuclear plants, according to the Electric Reliability Council.
Lay said Enron is committed to packaging long term, fixed price gas supplies that fit the needs of power generation markets. The company has long term contracts to provide more than 4 tcf of gas.
"In terms of environmental bang for the buck, electrical power is a profitable target and one to which a natural gas standard can provide an important solution," Lay said. "Whether American consumers can benefit from environmentally superior, low cost, efficient gas power production depends on us-the natural gas industry and electric power producers."
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