Energy Efficiency & Climate Change Law

Although Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that his country would not commit to a greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation plan by the deadline of January 31st, as set in last month’s Copenhagen Accord, Delhi, India’s second largest city, has announced plans to switch its three coal-generated power plants to a cleaner fuel: natural gas.

With a population of over 12 million inhabitants, which increased by a third this past decade, the city of Delhi’s energy needs continues to rise.  Therefore, Delhi’s leaders decided to substitute natural gas for coal over the next four years because a failure to mitigate the rapid increase in GHGs from the city’s coal-fired power plants would only further exacerbate the city’s air pollution problem.   

Currently, consumers in Delhi pay 2 rupees per unit cost of power ($0.04) generated by coal, but  that figure will increase to 3.5 rupees ($0.07) when their energy is generated using natural gas.  While this move will make energy nearly two-times more expensive for consumers, Rakesh Mehta, Delhi’s Chief Secretary, explained that his constituents "would be willing to pay more for [a] cleaner atmosphere."

It is certainly encouraging that leaders from the world’s 4th largest city (which is 50% larger than New York City) prioritize a clean atmosphere over the cost of energy.  Perhaps leaders in the United States should take note, considering that progress on the proposed U.S. climate bill has been slow, at best, since the summer when the Congressional Budget Office released a study showing that the cost of the plan to mitigate U.S. GHGs would increase the price of energy for U.S. households by $175 in 2020, which translates to the cost of a stamp per day.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, power plants using natural gas produce half as much carbon dioxide, less than a third of the nitrogen oxides, and one percent of the sulphur oxides as coal-fired power plants.  Even if the four-year timeline for switching all power plants from coal to natural gas is unrealistic due to the legal and economic hurdles associated with building the natural gas pipelines necessary to support the plan, the rapidly growing city will significantly reduce its GHGs by the end of this new decade.

It is important now, more than ever, for cities, states and regions to follow Delhi’s lead, considering that a new international climate deal remains uncertain and members of the U.S. Congress continue to hold-up both legislative and executive efforts to mitigate GHGs.