Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool

The Powerplant Impact Estimator (PIE) is a software tool designed to quantify the human health and economic benefits of reducing fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions from US electric generating units. It employs a three-step damage function approach: modeling changes in ambient air quality using a Source-Receptor (S-R) Matrix, calculating reductions in adverse health effects via epidemiological concentration-response functions, and assigning economic values to these avoided effects using cost-of-illness and willingness-to-pay metrics.

• The PIE tool utilizes a three-step damage function approach to estimate benefits: first, it models changes in ambient air pollution levels; second, it calculates the associated change in adverse health effects; and third, it assigns an economic value to those effects.
• To estimate ambient PM2.5 levels, PIE uses a Source-Receptor (S-R) Matrix that combines an emissions inventory of SO2, NOx, direct PM2.5, NH3, and VOCs with transfer coefficients to determine the impact of emissions on each county in the continental United States.
• The tool's air chemistry is simplified, assuming that sulfate forms ammonium sulfate and that remaining ammonium reacts with nitrate to produce ammonium nitrate, a process the document notes is "reasonably consistent with more complicated air quality models".
• Health impact functions in PIE are derived from peer-reviewed epidemiological studies, using effect estimates, baseline incidence rates, affected populations, and estimated changes in pollutant concentrations.
• The analysis assumes there are no population-level thresholds for PM2.5-related health effects, although it provides results based on a hypothetical threshold of 10 ug/m3 to remain consistent with some EPA analyses.
• Economic valuation of avoided health effects uses three primary methods: Value of Statistical Life (VSL) for premature mortality, Cost of Illness (COI) for hospital admissions, and Willingness to Pay (WTP) for asthma exacerbations.
• To account for inflation, the tool adjusts 2000 $ values to 2006 $ using three indices: the All Goods Index (1.171), the Medical Cost Index (1.289), and the Wage Index (1.191).
• The model incorporates a 20-year lag structure for premature mortality, assuming 30% of deaths occur in the first year, 50% in years 2-5, and 20% in years 6-20, with a 3% discount rate applied to future benefits.
• For the year 2010, the estimated national economic damages from existing EGUs are $97 billion for adult mortality based on the Pope study and $250 billion based on the Laden study.
• The tool's S-R Matrix is calibrated using 2001 emission inventories and 2002 monitor data from Federal Reference Method (FRM) and EPA’s Speciation Network (STN) sites to improve accuracy.
• Population forecasts for the years 2010, 2015, and 2020 are based on economic forecasting models from Woods & Poole, adjusted using 2000 U.S. Census data.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2010). Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/21094100/CATF_Pub_AbtTechnicalSupportDoc.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool. 2010. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/21094100/CATF_Pub_AbtTechnicalSupportDoc.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool |date=July 2010 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/21094100/CATF_Pub_AbtTechnicalSupportDoc.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2010technical, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2010}, month = jul, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/21094100/CATF_Pub_AbtTechnicalSupportDoc.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }