1. Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States 2004 Ceres (Investors and Environmentalists for sustainable prosperity) Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG). April 2006

2. The Benchmarking series began in 1997 and uses publicly reported data to compare the emissions performance of the 100 largest power producers in the United States

3. This report examines and compares the air pollutant emissions of the 100 largest power producers in the United States, based on 2004 plant ownership and emissions data and account for 88% of reported electric generation The 100 largest producers generated 97 % of all nuclear power 93 % of all coal-fired power 87 % of all hydroelectric power 71 % of all natural gas-fired power 29 % of all non-hydroelectric renewable power

5. In 2004, power plants were responsible for 69 % of SO2 emissions 22 % of NOx emissions 33 % of stationary source mercury emissions 39 % of CO2 emissions in the United States

7. Between 1990 and 2004 emissions of SO2 fell by 44 and NOx by 36 % The drops are largely the result of stricter pollution-control standards enacted in the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments Conversely, CO2 emissions rose 27 % in the same 14-year period