SOMERSET
-- The Brayton Point power plant was the largest single contributor in
the Northeast last year of a pollutant that leads to global warming,
according to a report issued yesterday by two public interest groups.
The
report examined emissions generated by 188 power plants in a nine-state
region -- the six New England states, plus Delaware, New Jersey and New
York -- and ranked them in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.
Carbon
dioxide is one of the so-called greenhouse gases that many experts
believe have led to a warming of the Earth's lower atmosphere. The
gases allow sunlight to pass through, but trap infrared heat that would
otherwise escape back into the atmosphere.
"For
more than four decades, Brayton Point's smokestacks have belched out a
toxic mixture of air pollution, contributing to New England's
frequently unhealthy air quality," said Matt Auten, a spokesman for the
Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group.
RIPIRG, along with the Rhode Island Clean Water Fund, released the
report at a news conference yesterday, standing at the foot of the
Brayton Point power plant.
Dominion,
the Richmond, Va.,-based energy giant that owns the Brayton Point
plant, said that it is spending millions of dollars on equipment to
reduce emissions of some pollutants, but not carbon dioxide. A company
spokesman said the plant complies with state rules that cap
carbon-dioxide emissions.
Dominion
purchased Brayton Point, along with two other power plants --
Manchester Street Station in Providence, and Salem Harbor Station in
Salem, Mass. -- in January from USGen New England Inc. for $656 million.
Brayton
Point is the largest coal-fired generator in New England. Its four
turbines can produce 1,599 megawatts of power. (One megawatt is about
how much electricity is used by 1,000 homes at any given time.)
The
report, titled "More Heat Than Light / Global Warming Pollution From
the Northeast's Dirtiest Power Producers," was paid for by the Pew
Charitable Trusts, the John Merck Fund, the Energy Foundation and the
Oak Foundation.
Power plants that use coal and fuel oil were those that produced the most carbon dioxide.
"We're
certainly not saying we should close plants like this down," said Emily
Rochon, a spokeswoman for Clean Water Action. "We want the companies to
create power in a more environmentally friendly and sustainable
fashion."
Some of the key findings were:
The
10 plants with the highest emissions of carbon dioxide produced
one-third of all carbon-dioxide pollution in the power sector last year.
Those 10 plants emitted nearly twice as much carbon dioxide per unit of power generated, compared with the regional average.
Brayton Point emitted 4.8 percent of the region's carbon dioxide, while producing only 2.3 percent of the region's electricity.
Power
plants owned by KeySpan Energy collectively emitted the most carbon
dioxide of any company. They produced 11.9 million metric tons of the
gas, or about 10.1 percent of the regional total. The company is also
the region's largest single power generator, producing 5.1 percent of
the region's electricity.
Dan
Genest, a spokesman for Dominion, did not dispute the report's ranking
of the Brayton Point facility's carbon-dioxide emissions.
"Brayton
Point is the largest power station in New England," he said in a
telephone interview. "It only makes sense it would be the largest
[carbon-dioxide emitter] in New England."
He
said the company has undertaken a number of steps to curb pollutants
coming from the plant. He said that construction is under way on
equipment that will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides
and mercury.
Dominion
will spend $230 million in its first two years of ownership on
environmental controls, Genest said. Some of the work is scheduled to
be completed in the spring or summer of next year.
The company has no plans yet to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, he said.
"We
have not had to do anything at this point," he said. Emissions have
been below the cap mandated by Massachusetts regulators, he said. "As
long as we're underneath it, we're in compliance."
Timothy C. Barmann covers energy issues, utilities and technology. He can be reached at tbarmann [at] projo.com
