Electric Power

At ACSF we believe that fuel switching — using cleaner, lower or zero carbon fuels — is crucial to reducing harmful pollution from the electric power sector and creating a more sustainable future. Conservation can also play a major role.

When it comes to power generation, we live what we burn. The mix of fuels we use to generate electricity — and how efficiently we use them — has a major impact on our public health and our economy. It also impacts the health of our lands and watersheds, and the diverse ecosystems they support.

To encourage greater use of cleaner fuels for electricity, ACSF has initiated several programs. They include:

• Supporting stricter federal regulation of air emissions from fossil fuel power plants. Some of our EPA submissions can be found here and here.
• Incubating new commercial options for delivering renewable electricity to customers, such as Renewable Power Direct. See also: Buying Green Power Today.
• Demonstrating the benefits from repurposing the sites of legacy power plants.
  For example, in 2011, ACSF published a 70 page illustrated plan to build a new American Center for Energy Innovation on the the 25 acre site of a former Washington DC area coal-fired power plant. More information is available at the Potomac River Green website.
• Showing how consumers and producers could benefit from using longer term contracts to “lock in” the lowest natural gas prices in over a decade to provide more affordable, clean power. Read more here: No Regrets.
• Creating a bi-annual national forum for regulators, environmental advocates, generators and fuel producers to review regulatory issues related to the expansion of clean power. Forum agendas and background papers are available here.