Adequacy of electric power fuel supplies, 1975--1985

New direction to the electric power industry with respect to generation growth and use of fuels has occurred. New important developments are: (1) the industry will not repeat the sustained high rates of growth of the past decades, although it may experience several years of accelerated growth in the postrecession period and (2) in the next several decades the use of coal will increase rapidly and significantly. Within 10 to 15 years, coal will, once again, assume the dominant role it held among the fossil fuels during the early years of the electric power industry. A specific review of gas, oil, and nuclear generation outlooks reveals that indeed utilities must depend on coal again. Discussions on generation forecasts, coal reserves and production, coal transport, coal prices, and compliance with sulfur standards try to answer the question on whether coal will assume this role in the electric utility industry. It is concluded that utilities cannot be certain that coal will meet their demand in this decade or in the 1980s due to inadequate coal mine capacity, bottlenecks in coal transport, or too-stringent environmental regulations. (MCW)