DAYTON — The power industry nationwide might have to spend more than $80 billion and retire 45,000 megawatts of coal-fired power plants over several years in adjusting operations to meet current and possible new EPA regulations, according to a report from investment bank FBR Capital Markets.

In Ohio, 17 older plants potentially under the gun include DP&L’s O.H. Hutchings Station and Duke Energy’s Walter C. Beckjord plant east of Cincinnati and its Miami Fort plant west of Cincinnati, according to FBR. A coal plant owned by the city of Hamilton also is vulnerable, according to FBR. For American Electric Power, which serves southern Ohio and Columbus and various parts statewide, the Conesville, Picway (near Lockbourne), Muskingum River (near Beverly) plants are named.

The city of Hamilton’s generating station employs 50 people, said Al Scobee, plant superintendent. He said the city will strive to meet U.S. EPA regulations as they are issued. The city also has stakes in hydropower generation from a plant on the Ohio River. “We want to keep a diverse generation capability,” he said.

Lacking an energy bill from Congress, the Obama administration plans to attack climate change and boost the emerging renewable energy industry with stepped-up regulations. Ohio, with 90 percent of its power from coal combustion, is on the hot seat. In total, 4,936 megawatts of coal generation in Ohio are at risk to be retired, but the state is committed to generating by 2025 at least 25 percent of all electricity sold in the state from renewable or advanced sources, such as nuclear. One megawatt powers about 1,000 U.S. homes. The oldest, least efficient coal plants — some of them too old to economically retrofit — are especially vulnerable, according to FBR.

FBR’s report is not the only one on the fate of U.S. energy amid debate over global warming’s implications for rising sea levels, food shortages and hotter temperatures that could alter economy and society. The U.S. Energy Information Agency, for example, forecasts that U.S. greenhouse gases will rise because of continued dependence on coal into 2035. On the other hand, Black & Veatch, the global engineering and consulting firm, predicts coal use will plunge.

FBR’s report examines how difficult it is just for the older plants to economically meet current and pending regulations. New EPA greenhouse gas standards aren’t due until July, but those could be the final push for the plants’ retirement. FBR says its projections have plenty of play because of the political clout of heavy coal burners such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois and Virginia.

Erin Culbert, spokeswoman for Duke Energy, said the utility doesn’t anticipate an immediate impact from the regulations. The company has spent $5 billion on upgrades and is involved in a nuclear energy exploratory project at Piketon. FirstEnergy, which supplies energy to Clark County, draws a third of its power from three nuclear plants.

“There needs to be reasonable time frames for development of technologies for (carbon dioxide) reductions,” said Ellen Raines, FirstEnergy spokeswoman.

AEP, based in Columbus, said increased emissions controls at more modern plants offset pollution from older plants that aren’t operated as intensely. Newer plants are being designed to run on natural gas, said AEP spokesman Pat Hemlepp. He said it’s difficult to say how plant shutdowns would affect employment.

Utility companies have some choice. They could switch to natural gas, a cleaner burning fuel now selling at a relatively low cost, to generate power in the near term. Gov. John Kasich has mentioned the potential for natural gas drilling in eastern Ohio. The Rockies Express Pipeline, one of the largest natural gas pipelines ever built, became operational in November 2009, stretching from northwestern Colorado to eastern Ohio.

Former Gov. Ted Strickland issued emergency rules to bring state guidelines in line with federal regulations. Starting Jan. 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required states to permit greenhouse gas emissions from “major sources.” Strickland said that without the emergency rules, apartment buildings, fast-food restaurants and other small businesses would have fallen into the “major sources” category in Ohio.

The Environmental Law and Policy Center said Ohio’s renewable supply chain includes 106 companies doing business with the wind-power industry and 63 companies in the solar energy supply chain. Wind industry suppliers employ more than 7,500 in Ohio. The Ohio Department of Development said solar manufacturing has created more than 1,500 jobs.