U.S. Senate To Hold Hearings On TXU Sale

From U.S. Senator John Kerry’s office:

WASHINGTON, DC – Following the historic announcement that TXU – the largest utility in Texas – would abandon plans to build 8 of 11 new coal plants in the state, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) today announced that he will convene a hearing to examine the key factors in TXU’s decision and implementing state of the art technology in clean coal plants. Two weeks ago, Kerry announced that he is writing legislation that would prevent the 11 proposed coal fired power plants in Texas from ever being built with outdated technology. The legislation would apply to many of the nearly 100 other coal plants that power companies are attempting to build in other parts of the country.

“I’m pleased to see that TXU was open to working with the environmental community and I’d like to see similar cooperation extended in other parts of the country,” Kerry said today. “However, given what we know about the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from these outdated coal plants, we cannot afford to be building them. Period. We need to learn more about this specific deal and the technologies available – from clean coal to energy efficiency and renewables – so that we can avoid relying on outdated technology to meet our energy needs.”

Kerry’s hearing will be held by the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee and will evaluate various aspects of the technologies employed by the TXU deal. Kerry is chairman of the Subcommittee.

Interesting.

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