Risks of Investing in New Coal-Fired Power Plants

Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Completed June 2008

Synapse authored Don’t Get Burned, a report on the risks of investing in new coal-fired power plants.  Synapse also spoke on this subject to rating agencies, investment analysts, investors, and regulatory commissioners.   The risks to investors identified in our report include federally mandated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, state actions that would adversely affect the need and relative economics of coal-fired power plants, uncertainties related to carbon capture and sequestration, more stringent regulation of non-greenhouse gas emissions, increasing construction costs and schedule delays, and uncertainties regarding the recovery of plant construction and operating costs.