ATLANTA, July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chris Hobson, Senior Vice President, Research and Environmental Affairs, Southern Company, today will detail steps under way to preserve coal, which represents half of our nation's electricity supply, as an important part of the future U.S. energy mix through the development and deployment of cleaner coal technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). The roundtable discussion, "What is the Future of Coal in the Context of HR 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009?," will be hosted by U.S. Sens. Tom Carper, (D-Del.), and George Voinovich, (R-Ohio).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080801/SOCOLOGO)

In his remarks, Hobson, who leads the company's efforts in the research and development of next-generation technologies to maintain a reliable and affordable supply of energy while reducing environmental impact, will reiterate Southern Company's support for comprehensive federal legislation to address climate change.

Additionally, Hobson will note, linking climate and energy policy with the federal government's ability to provide incentives for the development and deployment of needed technologies to meet our energy goals is crucial, and coal with CCS is a prime example of the need for incentives to promote and advance its role in the energy mix.

Moreover, Hobson will emphasize Southern Company's view that the Congress is the ideal forum to set national energy and climate policy and as it will help avoid the uncertainty and duplication that could result from disparate efforts from a variety of state and regulatory agencies with differing policies and responsibilities.

Southern Company believes there are key elements that must be included in any federal legislative proposal. These include:

• Targets and timetable for meeting reductions in greenhouse gases must be aligned with the ability to develop and deploy the key technologies that will be needed to meet climate and energy goals. All energy sources, including energy efficiency, renewables, natural gas, nuclear and coal, will be needed, with the sources that currently provide base load electric power -- nuclear and coal -- must continue to be a key part of the nation's energy mix.
• Credits under a cap and trade regime should be allocated to regulated entities in ways that minimize costs to energy consumers while also protecting against windfalls.
• Until key technologies like advanced nuclear and carbon capture and sequestration can be widely deployed mechanisms to constrain the cost impacts of a carbon cap should be integrated.
• A provision like a price collar with a floor and ceiling for carbon prices will be needed to protect energy consumers.
• Flexibility must be built into any climate policy that would give regulated entities options with which to comply with reduction targets. A key example of this is the use of offsets. Offsets that are real and verifiable should be available for use whether from domestic or international sources.
• Federal climate legislation should preempt duplicative and possibly contradictory state and federal policies. A regulated entity can't face a future with possibly 50 different state climate regulatory programs or multiple climate decision points from numerous federal laws and regulations whether from the Clean Air Act, or from laws such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.
• Legal, liability and property rights issues related to carbon sequestration must be addressed. Without a clear legal and regulatory path forward it is problematic whether regulated entities will want to undertake sequestration of CO2 on a large scale. This could be a larger barrier to carbon capture and sequestration than the technological challenges of capture alone.
  

With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Visit our Web site at www.southerncompany.com.

SOURCE Southern Company

SOURCE: Southern Company

Web site: http://www.southerncompany.com/