From the American News:
South Dakota electricity rates could increase nearly 50 percent by 2015 if proposed carbon cap and trade legislation is enacted, according to a report released by the state Public Utilities Commission.
Emissions trading would limit the amount of pollutants utilities could emit. Companies emitting more than the caps allow would have to buy credits from counterparts with fewer emissions. The idea is to reward companies that pollute less.
The potential 48 percent increase comes on the heels of news that natural gas prices have decreased almost 75 percent, although natural gas heating bills are not expected to dip that much.
Coal is the top fuel source in the United States, according to the PUC report. It's popular because it's inexpensive and plentiful, said Commissioner Dusty Johnson. But it's also considered to be a dirty fuel, emitting twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas, Johnson said.
Conversely, wind, hydro and nuclear energy don't create any carbon dioxide, Johnson said.
Coal provides 74 percent of the electricity generated in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota Kansas and Missouri and nearly half of the nation's energy, according to PUC statistics. In South Dakota, 47.6 percent of electricity is hydrogenerated, but most of that is sent to other states as part of an agreement reached in developing Missouri River dams.
Coal is the source of 46.5 percent of all South Dakota electricity, according to the PUC.
Read the whole thing.
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