A multiobjective production costing model for analyzing emissions dispatching and fuel switching [of power stations]

A model is presented for evaluating cost and employment impacts of effluent dispatching and fuel switching as means for reducing emissions from thermal power plants. Effluent dispatching refers to the operation of a generation system so that power plants with higher emission rates generate less than they would under least cost dispatching. The model is a multiobjective generalization of standard probabilistic production costing algorithms which allows plants to have alternate fuels. It produces tradeoff curves which show the costs and coal field job losses associated with reductions of SO₂ emissions. To illustrate the model´s capabilities, it is applied to the state of Ohio´s generation system