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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Jon Wadsworth – 202.828.5821

Frank Maisano – 202.828.5864

New Study Details High Costs to Rural America If Power Plant Case Overturned

Washington, DC, October 24, 2006 – Increased electricity costs will seriously harm rural America should the U.S. Supreme Court reverse the lower courts decision in the Duke Power New Source Review (NSR) case, according to a new study by researchers from the University of North Texas Department of Applied Economics.

The study, co-authored Dr. Bernard Weinstein, and Dr. Terry Clower of the University of North Texas, found that declining economic opportunities and population in rural America, combined with the projected increase in energy consumption over the next 25 years, would lead to rural America suffering from increases in electricity costs while facing diminished reliability.

The study found that:

· Public power companies serve more than 43 million customers in 49 states, and about 70 percent of the electricity is delivered to rural communities of 10,000 residents or fewer

· Of the 930 not-for-profit rural electric cooperatives, 80 percent of power generation is coal powered, precisely those plants targeted by the EPA's enforcement approach

· Discouraging efficiency improvements made routinely in maintenance cycles would foreclose 6,000 - 12,000 megawatts of power

"In order to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's reinterpretation of the NSR provisions, utilities could be confronted with prohibitive costs for routine repairs needed to keep plants safe and reliable," said Dr. Weinstein. "Those costs would have to be passed on to the consumer, and could prove devastating to family farmers and small businesses in rural communities nationwide.

The study was prepared in conjunction with the Electricity Reliability Coordinating Council (ERCC), a broad-based coalition of power companies that works with labor unions, consumers, and other manufacturing and service businesses on clean air issues.

A copy of the report can be found here: http://www.unt.edu/cedr/NewSourceReviewUpdate.pdf