Sustainable Energy Alternatives for the Southwest - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 511

plants, and to prohibit life-extending investments in existing coal-fired power plants. 17
Coal-fired power plants which capture and sequester carbon dioxide emissions may meet
the standard, but such plants are not commercially available today.
With regard to coal plant retirements, the 1580 MW Mohave Generating Station, which
started service in 1971, was shut down on December 31, 2005. The shutdown occurred
after the power plant owners failed to install air pollution controls pursuant to a federal
consent decree. In 2010, Southern California Edison (SCE) entered into an agreement with
Arizona Public Service Company (APS) to sell SCE's share of Four Corners Units 4 and 5 to
APS, and APS would, in turn, retire Four Corners Units 1-3 (560 MW). 18 APS could thereby
avoid costly retrofits at Units 1-3 to reduce air emissions in response to new environmen-
tal regulations.
In addition, current low natural gas prices make operating older, less efficient coal
plants relatively uncompetitive and make investments in new coal plants riskier. Thus, gas
generation is expected to increase while coal generation may decrease.
29.6 Institutional Bases for a Sustainable Power System
Establishing a sustainable power system requires that numerous organizations develop
and maintain capabilities to design and implement that system over a long period of
time. These organizations include state utility regulators, utilities, local governments,
community-based organizations, suppliers of renewable energy facilities, suppliers of
energy efficiency measures, and the finance sector. This section briefly summarizes how
some organizations are developing their capacities for a sustainable power system that
serves the desert Southwest.*
29.6.1 State Capabilities
States in the southwestern United States are, in fits and starts, developing policies to pro-
mote clean energy. Key state policies are renewable portfolio standards, energy efficiency
standards, and appliance standards and building codes. California has been the leader on
these policies and, as a result, it has far lower electricity use per person or per dollar of
state gross domestic product than the nation as a whole, 20 and it has developed a variety
of wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass resources. Table 29.2 summarizes major state poli-
cies as of Spring 2010 for the five states that encompass the desert Southwest. 21
* This section is concerned with developing clean energy resources to serve the Southwest. However, the vast
solar resource of the Southwest could generate power for a large portion of the rest of the country. Several
analyses have looked at using concentrating solar power and photovoltaics as major electricity resources that,
when combined with other renewable energy, could provide most of the nation's electricity by 2050. 19 This
export strategy would require thousands of square miles of land for solar energy projects and many thou-
sands of miles of new transmission facilities. Energy storage technologies would have to advance significantly
from current capabilities to provide electricity when consumers demand it. For example, molten salt storage
for CSP projects may be improved to allow electricity to be generated around the clock. Compressed air or
other storage of energy associated with photovoltaics could also be used, but this technology is not very far
along at present. Planning for and implementing a large-scale export strategy would require massive invest-
ments, technological improvements, a high degree of coordination, and careful reviews to minimize environ-
mental conflicts.