Rethinking the scale of coal-fired electric generation: technological and institutional considerations
This paper examines the economic and social implications of an electric-utility system based on medium-scale (50 to 200 MWe) coal-fired plants dispersed near load centers. The historical trend in US electric generation has been a sustained effort to capture the economies of large scale. Technical and institutional conditions within the industry, as well as the historical perception of universal electrification as a desirable social goal, have brought about this trend. Large fossil and nuclear plants, often representing joint ventures of several utilities, dominate the plans of utilities over the next 20 years. Despite these trends, this review was unable to conclude that clear advantages must inherently accrue to either small- or large-scale electrical generation. Transportation and construction do offer demonstrable economies of scale, but the other terms in the cost equation (such as reliability and transmission) are sufficiently uncertain or site-specific to prevent firm conclusions concerning the effect of scale. Biases believed to exist in the regulatory process would dilute the utilities' perception of any advantages accruing to small generators; rate-of-return regulation favors overcapitalization as embodied in the construction of large plants and extensive transmission networks. It is not clear that the current regulatory structure is capable of weighing the institutional values of accountability and local control against dollar savings generally supposed to accrue to large plants. The Midwest and East North Central states may be singularly fit for a decentralized, medium-scale system for historical, geographical, and institutional reasons, as well as for their location near the coal fields.
- Research Organization:
- Institute for Energy Analysis, Oak Ridge, TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-05-0033
- OSTI ID:
- 6263069
- Report Number(s):
- ORAU/IEA-78-16(M)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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