Coal Plant Construction Costs - Additional Data

A $2.65 billion coal gasification project in Indiana created 1,000 construction jobs. This works out to $2.65 million per job, more than twice the average amount it takes to create one win power job. While it will create 200 plant jobs and 300 mining jobs after completion of construction, compared to 4-6 operating and maintenance jobs from the Western Maryland wind farm, it has a lot more expense than the upkeep of the wind farm. The energy that comes from the wind farm is going to produce steady rates for end users of this energy or electricity. As a renewable, sustainable source, it will never run out and not pollute the air or water. As a result, wind farms have lower opearting costs than coal plants. The only problems with wind are when the wind does not blow, the need to scale up wind power by installing thousands of wind mills, and repairing wind mills damaged by storms. But, the second of these problems is offset by high unemployment, meaning there are people who want jobs and are ready to contribute to the wind farm building boom. The final of these three problems may become more noticeable once offshore wind farms are built. While the coal project may appear to create more jobs, it depends on the way you look at it. The problem with these jobs are that they are needed to clean up the environmental damage from mining coal, burning it cleanly for power, and disposing of coal ash waste in a safe way. The jobs from wind power contribute more to generating power for electricity.

2. http://www.buildingindianablog.com/2010/12/17/coal-gasification-project-to-generate-1000-construction-jobs/