Even as the Senate prepared to bury putting a price on carbon, Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers has spoken up, telling Harry Reid it will be tough to do nuclear without one.

In a letter delivered to Reid on Wednesday, Rogers predicted the Senate’ failure to adopt a
utilities-only carbon tax or cap-and-trade would lead to a “dash to natural gas.”

“Today more than 70 percent of the U.S. coal fleet is over 30 years old and 33 percent of the fleet is more than 40 years old,” wrote Rogers. “As EPA implements new regulations for smog, soot mercury, etc., over the new few years, we expect that these regulations (combined with the age of the fleet) will force as much as one-third of U.S. coal plants to close. Without resolution of the carbon risk, we will not be able to replace this existing capacity with new coal plants. And without a carbon price, it is very difficult to justify nuclear power.”

Noting that industries are already worrying about a “dash to natural gas,” which would limit their gas feedstocks and raise electrical prices – Rogers said the lack of a carbon price was likely to do just that.

“Without resolution of the carbon issue for our sector, our ‘business as usual’ future will include no nuclear plants and no new coal plants­   This makes the ‘dash to gas’ the industrials so fear much more likely.”

In his remarks, Rogers relied heavily McKinsey & Company study predicting that a carbon price of $35 per ton by 2030 would prompt conservation efforts that would lower electrical rates slightly and raise GNP.

Read more at Business Week

Tags: Business Week, Duke Energy, EPA, Harry Reid, Jim Rogers, McKinsey & Company, Nuclear Townhall

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