The mammoth energy bill that President Bush is expected to sign as early as this week promises to unleash some $14.5 billion in tax breaks and other financial incentives -- a number of which could boost Pennsylvania industries ranging from coal mining and nuclear plant development to farming and biodiesel production.

	Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette Fossil-fuel alternatives such as nuclear energy are part of the legislation that President Bush may sign this week. The Beaver Valley nuclear power plant is seen at right. An older coal-fired plant is at left. Click photo for larger image. Related coverage See highlights of the energy bill approved by Congress last week.

Broadly, the bill, which Congress passed last week by overwhelming majorities in both the Senate and House, "is an attempt to stimulate domestic production of energy," said Richard Jackson, founder and chief executive officer of Capital Technologies, a Hazelwood start-up company that develops technology for making biodiesel fuels.

Capital Technologies, which also plans to produce the fuels -- made from animal fats and plant oils -- stands to benefit from an extension of tax credits that would subsidize users such as trucking firms.

Consumer and environmental groups last week criticized the energy bill as a giveaway, particularly as it extends tax breaks to natural gas and oil producers at a time when oil prices are hovering at historic highs around $60 a barrel and generating record profits for the industry.

Big energy interests were the prime beneficiaries. But industry insiders argued that the incentives were largely structured to encourage high-risk domestic exploration for oil and gas, including very deep wells, to reduce dependence on foreign sources.

Advocates also touted potential environmental benefits from incentives to electric utilities to curb coal emissions and from tax breaks for reducing dependence on foreign oil through the use of fossil-fuel alternatives such as biodiesel and nuclear energy.

The coal and nuclear provisions are expected to have significant impact in Western Pennsylvania.

"The energy bill is far-reaching, and it does have some strong nuclear provisions," said Vaughn Gilbert, spokesman for Monroeville-based Westinghouse Electric Co., the nation's largest nuclear plant developer.

The bill provides up to $1 billion in tax credits for utilities to install 6,000 megawatts of nuclear generating capacity, an amount that would translate into four to six new plants.

Since the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, work at Westinghouse largely has been confined to repair and maintenance of existing nuclear generators. Westinghouse officials say new nuclear plant construction in the United States and in China could mean hundreds of new jobs,

Under the legislation, utilities also can get incentives to install emission-controlling equipment that would enable them to purchase the high-sulfur coal mined in Western Pennsylvania and throughout the Appalachian Basin, said Tom Hoffman, vice president of Consol Energy Inc., based in Upper St. Clair.

In part to avoid the costs of expensive pollution control equipment, electric utilities in recent years have increasingly been turning to natural gas and to low-sulfur coal from Western states, such as Wyoming, to fuel their plants.

Hoffman said, "We feel very good about (the legislation) because we think Congress has recognized that coal has got to play a cornerstone role, at least in the generation of electricity," in reducing the nation's dependence on foreign energy sources.

Like Capital Technologies, other tiny alternative energy companies emerging in Pennsylvania also stand to benefit from tax breaks for biodiesel and ethanol production, said David Bingaman, chief of the state Department of Agriculture's conservation division.

In addition to Capital Technologies, he said, he knew of at least two other Pennsylvania companies -- Penn-Mar Ethanol LLC, which is planning a $80 million ethanol plant in Franklin County, and Philadelphia Fry-o-Diesel, which plans to commercialize a demonstration project for turning waste restaurant grease into fuels -- whose ventures could be helped.

Bingaman said the state's agricultural economy could benefit from the alternative energy development in several ways.

First, dairy and beef cattle farms may be able to lessen their costs by purchasing "distillers grain," which is a byproduct of ethanol production, for animal feed.

In addition, the ethanol facilities purchase grain. Any increase in demand for agricultural commodities that stems from increased use of ethanol and biodiesel could help farmers put idle land back into production, Bingaman said.

"If an economic driver came along, a lot of farmers would take those acres and put them into crops,' he said.