Tulsa World: AEP not interested in nuclear plants

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AEP not interested in nuclear plants

By Bloomberg, AP and Staff Reports
Published: 8/29/2007 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 8/29/2007 2:20 AM

American Electric Power Co. isn't planning to build any new nuclear power plants because delays will push operational starts to 2020, CEO Michael Morris said Tuesday.

The first permit to build and operate a new U.S. reactor would be delayed by a court challenge that will probably reach the Supreme Court, Morris told reporters in Washington, D.C. Builders would also have to queue for certain parts and face "realistic" costs of about $4,000 a kilowatt, he said.

Power producers proposing to build reactors have suggested they could be operating by 2015 or 2016. About 20 percent of U.S. electricity is generated by nuclear power today.

Proposals to build as many as 28 new reactors have come after Congress in 2005 offered billions in loan guarantees and tax credits to those building new nuclear power plants. Reactors produce no greenhouse emissions, which contribute to global warming.

"I'm not convinced we'll see a new nuclear station before probably the 2020 timeline," Morris said.

Instead of nuclear plants, Columbus, Ohio-based AEP is proposing to build advanced coal-fired generation that would be able to capture carbon dioxide emissions. Morris said the company's proposed coal-gasification plants will cost about $3,500 a kilowatt to build.

AEP owns Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

By Bloomberg, AP and Staff Reports

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	Report Comment Anthony Bhal, Tulsa (8/29/2007 6:33:29 AM) AEP is behind the times again. With all the mine deaths in the news and the restrictions to come on mining the price of coal will skyrocket. Then they will have a plant that cost more to run and expect us to cover the cost.
	Report Comment S. Rexroad, Tulsa (8/29/2007 10:29:20 AM) The residents & taxpayers of Oklahoma need to wake up! Why is AEP turning a blind eye to Oklahma's #1 natural resource, Natural Gas, to fuel our state's power plants? And why aren't all of the natural gas producers in Oklahoma openly & publically speaking up on this issue? OCC are you paying attentiion to your State?
	Report Comment Bill, Owasso (8/29/2007 1:49:16 PM) S. Rexroad, Chesapeake Energy and its Chairman, Aubrey McClendon have been very vocal oppoonents of AEP-PSO's proposed coal plant. Mr. McClendon had an editorial published in the Sunday paper.
	Report Comment Rod Adams, Annapolis, Maryland (8/31/2007 4:44:24 AM) AEP likes burning coal and has made substantial investments in the capital equipment necessary to transport, handle and process it. It has pretty good technology for reducing emissions that has no application in an emissions free nuclear plant. AEP's fully owned subsidiary - MEMCO - is a barging operation that would have little use for a nuclear plant. Notice the care used in choosing the words to describe the carbon emissions from the proposed new coal plant - it would be "able" to capture emissions. The first question is "will it capture the emissions?" The next question is where will AEP put those emissions? How much will that cost and is there any risk that the CO2 will eventually leak out? Morris is right, however, about the queue that is developing for nuclear components. The demand is going to be high and allow suppliers to raise prices. Perhaps his statements are a negotiating tactic.
	Report Comment Floyd Mulligan, (8/31/2007 9:29:06 PM) Until North American governments figure out how to streamline the process of approving power plants whether nuclear or coal,and disallowing constant retrying of every single application, my sympathies are with the power companies like AEP who have no stomach for risking shareholder value by entering the existing processes.
	Report Comment TM, BA (9/10/2007 2:24:28 PM) The economic argument is made that Nuclear plant is projected to cost $4,000 a kilowatt to build versus $3,000 a kilowatt for a coal fired plant. Yet, a combined cycle combustion turbine running plant running on natural gas only runs ~$1,000 a kilowatt to build and can be permitted and meet 9 parts per million emissions without an SCR and as low as 2 ppm with an SCR. Moreover it can be built in under two years. AEP will have to import low sulfur Powder River Basin coal from Wyoming to hope to meet emission targets because OK Lignite is high in Sulfur. This is definitely reflects being tied to the coal technology anchor.

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