Clean-coal offering
Our energy writer, Elizabeth Souder, notes the following:
Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, is expected to propose adding an amendment to his electricity bills that supports clean coal technology.The senator has already filed legislation that would force power companies to cut their market share to 20 percent in each region of Texas. Already Texas law only allows power generation companies to serve 20 percent of the state-wide market. But some companies, including TXU Corp. and NRG Energy, serve larger portions of their home regions.
Mr. Fraser’s amendment would exclude any clean coal power plants from the 20 percent rule.
The term “clean coal” typically refers to power plants that don’t emit the pollutants that can cause asthma and heart problems. Technology such as coal gasification generally falls into the “clean coal” category.
NRG has said it might consider a coal gasification plant in Texas, but TXU has opted for conventional coal technology for its 11 proposed power plants.