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From USATODAY.com Tech - Top Stories:
Environmentalists argue more energy efficiency could greatly reduce the need fora huge new wave of power plants and transmission lines.
In two studies out Monday, the power industry gives its terse response: Don't count on it.
Increased efficiency can offset a substantial but relatively small portion of the increase in generating capacity needed to meet rising electricity demand, the studies say.
Even with widespread purchases of energy-saving appliances and better-insulated homes, the USA will still need to build at least 151 gigawatts of new generation — enough to power 75 million homes — by 2030, says one study by The Brattle Group for Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the industry's trade group.
The projects, aimed at meeting new demand and replacing aging plants, would cost $457 billion. The biggest wave of utility construction in a generation would also require $900 billion for lines to transport the power.
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Re: Energy industry says more plant construction needed
