Regional Socioeconomic Impacts of Alternative Energy Scenarios for the Ohio River Basin Energy Study Region

摘要

The report was prepared as part of the Ohio River Basin Energy Study (ORBES), a multidisciplinary policy research program. It describes projected socioeconomic impacts of the ORBES energy futures, defined as scenarios, on the region. The region consists of all of Kentucky, most of West Virginia, and substantial portions of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The major impact areas considered are employment impacts of coal-fired power plants and of coal mining; population impacts of coal-fired power plants and coal mining; and public service impacts (e.g., water and sewer systems). The analyses of power plant impacts was aided by use of the ORBES Labor Impact Model (OLIM), which projects total county employment over time by scenario. For coal-mining employment impacts, a set of employment multipliers was developed using existing data to enable county- and regional-level employment changes. The mining employment data also are used in conjunction with other forecasts to look at general migration trends within the study region.