User-Friendly Tool to Calculate Economic Impacts from Coal, Natural Gas, and Wind: The Expanded Jobs and Economic Development Impact Model (JEDI II); Preprint

In this paper we examine the impacts of building new coal, gas, or wind plants in three states: Colorado, Michigan, and Virginia. Our findings indicate that local/state economic impacts are directly related to the availability and utilization of local industries and services to build and operate the power plant. For gas and coal plants, the economic benefit depends significantly on whether thefuel is obtained from within the state, out of state, or some combination. We also find that the taxes generated by power plants can have a significant impact on local economies via increased expenditures on public goods.