Utility executives fear new technology a gamble

"CO2 emissions is the biggest issue in this industry since Edison invented the light bulb," William Johnson, chairman, president and chief executive of Raleigh, N.C.-based Progress Energy Inc., said during a panel discussion at financial conference of the Edison Electric Institute, an industry group.

James Miller, chairman, president and CEO of Allentown, Pa.-based PPL Corp., said coal seems out of favor and nuclear's future remains cloudy. "Over the long haul, I fear we will have a rush to (natural) gas again," he said.

President-elect Obama has said he wants to act quickly on climate change legislation that would impose limits on the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming.

Another panelist, Democratic Congressman Rick Boucher of Virginia, said the technology for capturing carbon does not exist now. But he said legislation to be enacted by Congress likely will put off for several years the more drastic limits on greenhouse gases--allowing enough time for the technology to be developed.

He sought to reassure utility executives that there will continue to be a place for coal because without it, the U.S. economy would be damaged.

He said the goal is to come up with legislation that provides the maximum environmental benefit at the least expense to the economy. Coal generates about half of the electricity used in America.

But Miller and Johnson seem skeptical that the technology would be ready fast enough.

"If we don't accomplish that, we don't accomplish nothing other than imposing a massive cost on the economy," Miller said.

Johnson worried that energy prices could double as more demand for natural gas could send gas prices much higher.