High cost of clean air rules not fully justified

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Chairman questions whether the benefits of air quality standards can be justified in view of the cost to the consumer. TVA, considering its public responsibility to include affordable power as well as promote a healthy environment, has argued these points before regulators and the courts. TVA's efforts to remove sulfur dioxide from stack gas includes tall stacks to limit the buildup of gases at ground level. Old plants, even those with tall stacks added, are severely impacted by the strict standards which will require heavy investment in aging plants and will mean the consumer must pay higher electric bills with no noticeable change in air quality. TVA estimates the annual cost of installing chemical scrubbers, new processes for washing and blending coal, and developing new coal supplies to meet the sulfur dioxide emission standards at $375 million and 2.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity (translating into a 17 percent ;increase in costs to the consumer). Also, strict limitations on fly ash, water pollution, thermal pollution, strip mine reclamation, and mine standards will, when added to sulfur dioxide emissions standards, will result in staggering costs, Mr. Wagner feels. (DCK)