Litigation Related to Fuel Issues
|
Client |
and |
Freedman, Boyd, Daniels, Peifer, Hollander, Guttmann & Goldberg |
Completion Date
October, 1994
Project Description
The firms of Fine, Kaplan & Black and Freedman,
Boyd, Daniels, Peifer, Hollander, Guttmann &
Goldberg engaged Energy Associates for litigation on fuel related issues. Energy Associates assisted by obtaining
information about, and evaluating the existing and potential market for
fuel-in-water emulsions and similar technology.
Fuel selection is a major
decision for a power engineer. It
is the single largest item in the power plant operating budget and has a major
effect on power plant economics.
Fuel determines plant design requirements and the types of systems that
are provided. As a result, it
affects capital budgets and financing requirements. The plant may be more complicated to
design and construct. The
additional systems and equipment can lengthen the construction schedule. This further increases finance charges
and affects the utility's ability to quickly add capacity. The type of fuel is a key factor in
applications for environmental permits.
Fuel can be an ongoing permitting concern due to changing regulations,
as seen with acid rain and NOx legislation. Because fuel price forecasting has a
turbulent history, a seemingly prudent fuel decision today can prove later to
be a costly choice. With electrical
rates being subject to prudency reviews years after a decision is made,
utilities can ill afford to rely on a single projection of future events. A balanced power generation plan with
fuel options provides the flexibility to react to unpredictable changes.
Fuel emulsions are a relatively
new technology that can help to provide some of this flexibility. They can replace heavy oil. Fuel emulsions are priced like coal but
handles like oil. They were being
investigated for oil fired plants that cannot be easily or economically
converted to coal.