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Higher energy costs from climate bills
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press
April 30, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) -- People will be paying higher energy prices under a Senate bill to limit greenhouse gases, but how much will depend on how well the country can shift away from burning fossil fuels, an Energy Department analysis said Tuesday.

The Energy Information Administration said annual energy costs could increase on average of as little as $30 or as much as 10 times that much by 2020. The projected cost increases per household ranged from $76 a year more to as much as $723 a year more by 2030.

The agency said the difference depends on how successful the country will be in replacing significant amounts of energy production from coal and oil to nuclear power as well as solar and wind energy, and how successfully it adopts conservation measures.

Overall, the report said the U.S. economy will continue to grow, but at a lower pace.

The Senate bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., calls for capping carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, transportation and industrial sources to attain a reduction of 70 percent in greenhouse gases by mid-century.

The bill is expected to come up for Senate debate in June, although it is unlikely that it will pass this year. Some Republican senators have vowed to force a filibuster unless it is dramatically changed.

Lieberman welcomed the EIA analysis saying it shows overall economic growth would not change much if the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas restrictions are enacted.

He said another analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency had come to similar conclusions. The EPA study also had a wide range of potential energy cost scenarios.

''Two separate government analysis have now come to the same conclusion,'' said Lieberman in a statement. ''Our bill curbs global warming without harming the U.S. economy.''

The EIA report used a half dozen computer models to reach its range of cost estimates. Lieberman said with development of more alternative sources of fuel for power plants, the report estimated electricity costs increasing 5 percent in 2020 and 11 percent in 2030.

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