Yesterday, we showed you how the Sunflower Holcomb plant expansion would be create jobs in Kansas while using state-of-the-art emissions-control systems that are the model of future coal-fueled electricity generation.
Yet jobs aren’t the only way the Holcomb expansion would benefit our economy. In the following video, Sunflower Electric COO Kyle Nelson, explains to me what baseload power is, and why coal is an important source of energy to keep baseload power affordable.
Electricity is produced in baseload power and peaking power. Baseload power is the energy necessary to keep the electricity grid energized and meet a constant demand. Peaking power is energy that comes on and off throughout the day, when electricity usage and energy demand goes up. Peaking power can use intermittent power sources like solar and wind that produce electricity only when there’s sufficient direct sunlight or sufficient sustained wind speed. And while using renewable sources like solar and wind to diversify our peaking power is a great option when conditions allow, baseload power must use more reliable fuels such as coal, which can provide energy 24 hours a day.
As State Senate Commerce Committee Chair Karin Brownlee points out in the video, affordable baseload power through the use of coal means more economic growth for Kansas and all of America:
“Kansas needs what we call baseload power,” Brownlee said. “When you have an adequate source of power, you can grow your economy. You can recruit new industries to come that might utilize a lot of power.”
To learn more about how coal can provide the affordable baseload power American families and businesses need, read Keeping Electricity Prices Low.
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.
[...] been following the progress of the Holcomb expansion closely. Once complete, the 895 megawatt coal-fueled unit will add economic activity of nearly $350 million [...]
[...] week, Steve showed us why securing baseload power with affordable sources of energy like coal is so critical to our economy, especially in Kansas [...]