Analysis - The Institute for Southern Studies

materials; however, they do not use sewer systems or sewage treatment facilities” Source: US Bureau of
Census at: http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/
Database filter #2 of 3: EPA deleted all of the units that did not use coal as either a primary or secondary energy source
using the coal type codes displayed in Exhibit 3A below. In addition to these five categories of coal, examples of other
primary or secondary energy sources reported by coal burning electric utility plants are agriculture byproducts, distillate fuel
oil, natural gas, petroleum coke, propane, and wood & waste solids.
Exhibit 3A
Types of Coal Used by Electric Utility Plants as Coded in the 2007 DOE-EIA Database
Item Code Type of Coal
1 BIT Anthracite Coal, Bituminous Coal
2 LIG Lignite Coal
3 SUB Sub-bituminous Coal
4 WC Waste/Other Coal (Anthracite Culm, Bituminous Gob, Fine Coal, Lignite Waste, Waste Coal)
5 SC Coal Synfuel. Coal-based solid fuel that has been processed by a coal synfuel plant, and coal-based fuels such as
briquettes, pellets, or extrusions, which are formed from fresh or recycled coal and binding materials.
Database filter #3 of 3: The first two filter criteria resulted in a subset of 506 coal-fired electric utility plants. Based on the
reported operating status of the generators at these plants (i.e., OP, OS, SB, RE, OA) 30 , 11 plants reported that all generators are
out-of-service, 2 plants reported that all generators are on standby and all remaining plants reported that at least one of their
generators is operating. Removal of the 11 out-of-service plants from the master list resulted in a total affected plant population of
495 coal-fired electric utility plants. 31 Appendix C presents the list of 495 plants. 32
For purpose of identifying the types and size classifications for owner entities, this RIA initially used the utility code reported in the 2007 EIA-
860 database to identify which plants are owned by the same company. Company owner classifications were also checked for many plants
using internet searches by plant and company name which sometimes revealed parent company owners. As summarized in Exhibit 3B and
30
OP = Operating - in service (commercial operation) and producing electricity. Includes peaking units that are run on an as needed (intermittent or seasonal) basis, OS =
Out of service – was not used for some or all of the reporting period and is NOT expected to be returned to service in the next calendar year, SB = Standby/Backup -
available for service but not normally used (has little or no generation during the year) for this reporting period, RE = Retired - no longer in service and not expected to be
returned to service, and OA = Out of service – was not used for some or all of the reporting period but was either returned to service on Dec 31 or will be returned to service
in the next calendar year. Note: Units undergoing maintenance or repair of less than 12 months and are expected to be returned to service are assigned operating status.
31 This RIA filtered out 11 out-of-service electricity plant identification codes: 508, 511, 996, 1732, 2341, 2468, 2529, 2531, 2908, 3419, and 55612.
32 In comparison, a 2008 EPA Office of Water (OW) study estimated a nationwide total of 497 coal-fired electric plants using the same 2005 EIA-767 database; the 495
plants estimated in this RIA are less than the 2008 EPA OW estimate because this RIA takes account of more recent plant operating status information (i.e., plants which
have converted to other non-coal fuels or are not operating). Source: Table 3-1 (page 3-9) of EPA Office of Waster “Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source
Category: 2007/2008 Detailed Study Report,” report nr. 821-R-08-011, August 2008; http://www.epa.gov/guide/304m/2008/steam-detailed-200809.pdf
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