TXU deal kills 8 of 12 dirty coal plants?

I have been extremely happy to hear of the TXU deal this week. It points to the potential to work with rather than against environmental groups to achieve positive results.

The question I have is, "Where will the power come from?" NPR's Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep interviewed Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense about the deal:

SI: I assume that TXU was planning 11 new power plants because they made a decision that the demand was there and that people needed more power generation. How are they going to get the power?

FK: They are going to double the amount that they spend to purchase wind power. And they're also going to double the amount they spend on energy efficiency.

This is becoming a new model, where utilities are understanding that they can make money by helping customers save energy.

SI: Are those steps enough to roll back the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, just more efficiency and more wind power?

FK: I think they're going to go a long way. There will be other steps as well the company needs to take. And we'll be working with them on an advisory board."

But there's probably no one silver bullet. There's probably a whole lot of silver buckshot that needs to be deployed by this utility, and others as well.

I think Fred is on the right track. The 'new business model' will not be to build a new plant at the whim of the power company. For one, the regulatory climate is going nowhere but in the direction of emissions reduction. Second, it simply looks bad on a company's P/L sheet to have all of the environmental liability of these dirty coal plants. Last, don't forget that Al Gore has started getting good press recently. That should tell us something about how fashionable environmentalism has become!