How to avoid more pain at the plug through greater use of technology

There is an increasingly robust debate about America’s energy future playing out across the country from the White House… to the Halls of Congress… to the corner coffee shop.  Few could argue that alleviating energy inequality should be a top priority, yet the policies the Administration is pursuing here and around the world suggest America has lost its way.   

At a time of low costs for coal and natural gas, we’d expect to see some relief for rates, yet just the opposite is occurring.   

{mosads}Electricity rates have been going up since 2000. This past year was the most expensive ever for electricity in the United States, and record prices are continuing in 2015.  The increase has accelerated in recent years largely due to policy actions that have forced utilities to use less coal and more renewables – the most expensive form of electricity. 

Translation:  Growing pain at the plug for hardworking Americans.       

High electricity costs put pressure on families, forcing painful sacrifices.  No parent should ever make the terrible choice of putting food on the table, buying medicine or paying for power, yet these are very real issues.

Affordable energy is critical at a time when more than 100 million Americans – nearly one-third of the population – qualify for energy assistance and 45 million live in poverty.  The challenge is even more pronounced globally when you consider that 3.5 billion people lack proper electricity, billions spend their days foraging for biofuel to cook and heat, and even lack access to clean water.

The greatest problem we confront is not an environmental crisis predicted by flawed computer models, but a human crisis that is fully within our power to solve.  Against this backdrop, the Administration continues forcing a carbon agenda with little regard for the consequences to people, the economy or the rule of law.   

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Administrator has said that the Clean Power Plan isn’t about “pollution” but is an “investment opportunity.”  Yet this concept runs afoul of the Clean Air Act, setting the stage for major legal challenges.  

Multiple studies also show the EPA’s plan will continue to significantly drive up power costs, leaving a legacy of expensive electricity and causing reliability issues. Beyond cost issues, the carbon proposal is likely to create power shortages across the nation in the Great Plains, the Midwest, the Northeast and Texas.   

Keeping costs low is why coal is so essential.  Coal fuels about 40 percent of U.S. power, 40 percent of global power, and delivers the lowest cost electricity of any major fuel. The importance of coal to our energy future is best demonstrated by the fact that coal is forecast to surpass oil as the world’s largest energy source in the next several years.  

If we continue down a path to remove coal, our energy system will be put at serious risk… our ability to compete globally will be jeopardized and our way of life sacrificed.     

We can use coal to power our economy and still achieve our environmental goals.  The key is to analyze the system holistically and set goals on a rational time frame.  We should not mandate artificial carbon caps, carbon taxes or renewable mandates that will hurt people and cripple economies for negligible environmental benefit.     

If the EPA power plant proposal is implemented, the average global temperature would be reduced by less than two-hundredths of one degree, offering no material benefit under climate theory.  We can all agree this proposal is ludicrous.  

There is a common sense reason why a majority of states are vocally opposing the rule… why members of Congress are saying no… why governors… attorneys general… business associations… and citizen groups are lining up to send EPA back to the drawing board.      

As the administration attempts to lead the world toward a carbon treaty, we need to stop and take note of valuable lessons.  Jurisdictions like Australia, the European Union and Ontario, Canada, have tried such policies only to see their economies turned upside down.  

All of us share the goals of a strong economy and healthy environment.  But there is a far better and more practical path.  The solution comes in the form of clean coal technologies that can accelerate the transition toward a low-carbon energy future.    

To that end, I offer a five point plan:  

1.        Recognize the tremendous impact of energy policy on all citizens and the importance of keeping energy available, reliable and affordable.  Any new
policy recommendation should show how energy access increases and energy affordability is strengthened.   

2.       Embrace a true “all of the above” energy strategy that recognizes quantifiable benefits and limitations for each fuel alternative.   

3.       Support continued investment in clean coal technologies to minimize emissions and drive down costs, which offer a dramatic success story in the United States:  Coal used for power has increased 165 percent since 1970 while key emission rates have taken a steep, 90 percent decline.   

4.       Promote development bank funding to expand broad electricity access in emerging markets.  Electrification through coal is an answer to stop degradation of the natural environment and help alleviate energy inequality.   

5.       Accelerate development of next generation carbon capture utilization and storage technologies that will achieve large emission reductions. Given the world’s ambitious carbon goals, CCS will play an essential role reducing emissions for both coal and gas.  CCS should enjoy policy parity with other low-carbon energy options. 

Advancing social and economic progress should be our overriding goals.  We must put in place a technology path for long-term improvement in carbon emissions that will enable us to use more energy more cleanly while delivering the major societal benefits of electrification right now.

Boyce is chairman and chief executive officer of Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private-sector coal company and a global leader in sustainable mining, energy access and clean coal solutions.  Please visit AdvancedEnergyforLife.com.