Section 3: Electric Utilities

Waste Management by Electric Utilities

Production-related waste managed has decreased by 4% since 2003, while net electricity generation (in terms of electricity generated using coal and oil fuels as reported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration), has decreased by 23%. The recent production decrease is driven by the industry’s transition to natural gas, which exempts many electric utilities from TRI reporting. While the overall quantity of production-related waste managed has not significantly changed, the ways in which the sector manages this waste have changed considerably.

In 2013, approximately two-thirds of production-related waste managed was treated, while approximately one-third was released. This is in contrast to 2003, when the opposite was the case – almost two-thirds of the waste was released, and over one-third was treated. This trend is in large part due to an increase in the number of scrubbers at electric utilities that treat (or destroy) acid gases that would otherwise be on-site air releases. The releases per gigawatt-hour (GWH) produced have dramatically decreased, offset by an increase in quantities treated per gigawatt-hour produced.

In the electric utilities sector, only 3% of facilities initiated source reduction activities in 2013 to reduce their toxic chemical use and waste generation. (Note: Adding a scrubber would not be considered a source reduction activity because it controls waste rather than preventing waste generation.) The most commonly reported type of source reduction activities for this sector was process modifications, which include activities such as modifying equipment, layout, or piping. TRI’s Pollution Prevention Search Tool can help you learn more about pollution prevention opportunities in this sector.

This page was published in January 2015 and uses the 2013 TRI National Analysis dataset made public in TRI Explorer in October 2014.