Regional employment and income effects of a 50-MW wood-fired power plant

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5915016· OSTI ID:5915016

VanderWerf, P.

Construction and operation of a 50-MW wood-fired power plant could have a profound influence on the rural region in which it is located. Using Department of Commerce regional data, input-output computer analysis techniques are employed to estimate the effects on local income and employment of constructing and operating such a plant in a three-county region in northern Vermont. In general, the result was a total new annual income for local industries of about double the plant's yearly outlay. The increase in local income also created new jobs; regional unemployment rates could theoretically drop about one-half of one percent because of the plant's presence. Because most of the plant's expenditures in the three-county region will be for labor, the industries that profit most from its spending will be the retail, wholesale, food, and apparel businesses, which depend on individual consumer sales. These businesses are likely to suffer a mild recession after the relatively intense two-year construction phase, as operation-phase annual expenditures are substantially lower than construction phase levels and require fewer workers. However, with proper planning, regional businesses and individual workers should be able to benefit substantially from both phases of the plant's activities.

• Research Organization: Dartmouth Coll., Hanover, NH (USA). Thayer School of Engineering
• OSTI ID: 5915016
• Report Number(s): DSD-90
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
296001 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power Generation-- (-1989)
299003 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Unconventional Sources & Power Generation-- Other-- (-1989)
530100 -- Environmental-Social Aspects of Energy Technologies-- Social & Economic Studies-- (-1989)
COMMERCIAL SECTOR
CONSTRUCTION
DATA
DATA COMPILATION
DATA FORMS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ECONOMICS
EMPLOYMENT
FOOD INDUSTRY
FORECASTING
INCOME
INDUSTRY
INFORMATION
INPUT-OUTPUT ANALYSIS
LABOR
MARKETERS
NORTH AMERICA
NORTH ATLANTIC REGION
NUMERICAL DATA
OPERATION
POWER PLANTS
REGIONAL ANALYSIS
RETAILERS
RURAL AREAS
TABLES
TEXTILE INDUSTRY
USA
VERMONT
WOOD