Employment effects of coal ash regulation

The report critiques a study by the Utility Solid Waste Action Group (USWAG) which claimed that strict coal ash regulation could lead to the loss of 183,900 to 316,000 jobs. The author argues these figures are based on arithmetic errors, a misapplication of an unpublished academic paper, and unfounded claims regarding 'regulatory stigma'. Using the IMPLAN model and a high-end cost estimate from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) of $6.47 billion annually, the author calculates that the spending required for waste management, wastewater treatment, and construction would create 117,000 jobs, while the resulting electricity price increases would cause a loss of 89,000 jobs. The final result is a projected net gain of 28,000 jobs.

• An industry study commissioned by the Utility Solid Waste Action Group (USWAG) claimed that treating coal ash as hazardous waste under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act would result in the loss of 183,900 to 316,000 jobs nationwide.
• The USWAG job loss estimates are criticized for containing at least two arithmetic errors and failing to explain approximately 54,000 jobs in its high-end estimate, including 40,000 in electricity impact calculations and 14,000 in the summation of categories.
• The USWAG report relied on a single unpublished paper by Olivier Deschênes to link electricity price increases to job losses, ignoring the author's warning that employment effects are only 'weakly related' to electricity prices and that the research has 'many limitations'.
• The claim that regulating coal ash disposal would create a 'stigma' that discourages ash recycling and puts 22,900 construction jobs at risk is described as groundless, noting that other hazardous materials like gasoline and nail polish are used without such stigma.
• Using the IMPLAN model and an annual cost estimate of $6.47 billion (from EPRI), the author finds that new utility expenditures for compliance would create 117,253 jobs, consisting of 41,173 direct, 27,836 indirect, and 48,244 induced jobs.
• The author estimates that 83.5% of the nationwide costs of Subtitle C, or $5.40 billion per year, would be passed to electricity users, resulting in a loss of 89,210 jobs.
• The net employment effect of strict coal ash regulation under Subtitle C is projected to be a gain of 28,043 jobs.

APA

Ackerman, F. (2011). Employment effects of coal ash regulation. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/Economics_of_climate_policy/Ackerman-coal-ash-regulation-jobs-Oct2011.pdf

Chicago

Ackerman, Frank. Employment effects of coal ash regulation. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2011. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/Economics_of_climate_policy/Ackerman-coal-ash-regulation-jobs-Oct2011.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ackerman |first1=Frank |title=Employment effects of coal ash regulation |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=October 2011 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/Economics_of_climate_policy/Ackerman-coal-ash-regulation-jobs-Oct2011.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ackerman2011employment, author = {Ackerman, Frank}, title = {{Employment effects of coal ash regulation}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2011}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/Economics_of_climate_policy/Ackerman-coal-ash-regulation-jobs-Oct2011.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }