International Electric Power Industry Leaders Pledge Cooperation on Global Climate Change, Other Key Issues

Washington, DC () - Electric industry leaders from three continents pledged to undertake cooperative efforts to promote technology research, development and deployment aimed at reducing the build-up of greenhouse gases and improving energy efficiency.  Meeting October 2-4 in Sapporo, Japan, heads of the Union of the Electricity Industry (EURELECTRIC), Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the Federation of the Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) called for long-term, global and voluntary actions to address climate change.

“As the international community continues to weigh measures to address climate change concerns, one thing is exceedingly clear,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn, who participated in the meeting.  “The centerpiece of any effective policy response must be development and global deployment of new greenhouse gas-reducing technologies that fortify—rather than sacrifice—economic growth.

The electricity associations, meeting last week for the eighth time, represent a majority of the electricity industry’s participants among the world’s largest economies, whose members generate most of the world’s electricity.  Leaders from the Canadian Electricity Association and the Energy Supply Association of Australia also participated in the meeting.

During their discussions on climate change, the industry’s leaders stressed the need to attain “compatibility between environment and economy” through adoption of long-term, economy-wide approaches.  “Voluntary actions to reduce or avoid emissions of greenhouse gases provide a more efficient base for measures to cope with climate change in a competitive market in terms of speed, flexibility and effectiveness,” participants said in a joint communiqué.  “In general, a market-based approach, rather than a regulation-based approach, will provide a more effective solution,” they said.

The chief executives also said the electricity industry and other economic sectors “have a responsibility” to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity—the amount of greenhouse gases emitted per unit of economic growth—through use of efficient generation and end-use technologies.  Participants said they would utilize mechanisms under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including “activities implemented jointly,” to facilitate technology transfer to developing countries and transitional economies.

Turning to other issues, the associations identified electricity “stability”—maintaining a reliable, sustainable and affordable electricity supply for all customers—as an essential ingredient in electricity market policy.   “In the short term, effective reliability standards that bind all market participants must be in place to ensure electric reliability,” the leaders said in the communiqué.  “In the long term, new investment in and timely construction of electricity generation and transmission facilities are required.”

Noting considerable increases in crude oil and other fossil fuel prices, the associations underscored the need for electric suppliers to diversify their generation portfolios to protect against price volatility and supply disruptions, and to meet environmental goals.  “Particularly, we have paid and will pay special attention to the need for nuclear energy that contributes to the stable supply of energy and is a top-rated option now available to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” the communiqué said.

Meeting participants also called on governments to adopt policies to promote fuel diversity, as well as stable utility sector investment and fair competition.  The associations agreed to expand collaborative efforts to educate the public and governments on the full range of issues that influence the availability of reliable, sustainable and affordable electricity.

“The electricity sector faces significant challenges at home and abroad, and the best way to meet them is through international collaboration,” Kuhn said.  “Now more than ever, EEI is grateful for the opportunity to partner with its international members and counterpart organizations to address climate change, electric reliability and a host of issues critical to our industry and our customers.”

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The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies. Our members serve 95 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry. We also have more than 65 International electric companies as Affiliate members, and more than 170 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate members.