Uncertainty about the nation’s economic future and possible federal legislation on climate change and renewable energy is reshaping the market for building power-generation and transmission projects in the U.S., according to executives at some of the nation’s largest contractors. That uncertainty has led many coal-fired projects to be canceled or put on hold, several natural gas-fired projects to be delayed, and even some wind projects to be put on ice while utilities and independent power companies try to figure how long the recession will last and what Congress ultimately will agree to on a carbon cap-and-trade program and a renewable portfolio standard.
Firms add that while a dozen or more nuclear projects remain on track for construction in the 2012-through-2020 period—with several short-listed for federal loan guarantees— some wonder if cost escalation and public opposition might doom some projects.