CORRECTED - Air, water rules to raise energy prices-Consol CEO

(Corrects spelling of company name in headline)

* Sees CO2 rules inhibiting mine investment

* Says EPA actions will drive up energy prices

By Steve James

NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Increased legislative or regulatory crackdowns on carbon emissions and water pollution will likely drive up the price of energy for consumers, the head of a major U.S. coal producer warned on Thursday.

"I'm concerned about two things," Brett Harvey, president and CEO of Consol Energy Inc (CNX.N) told Wall Street analysts.

"One is CO2 legislation; what does that really mean to the coal industry?" he asked during a conference call to discuss quarterly earnings.

"I think well-capitalized mines like we have will supply these big power plants for the next 25 to 30 years, no matter what. The question is: How much restraint's going to be put on the utilities?"

Harvey, whose company produces over 50 million tons of steam or thermal coal per year for U.S. power generation, said more emission controls on coal-fired power plants would deter further investment.

"If you do a lot of C02 legislation, you're going to end up stopping capital from coming into development of coal supplies, and that will drive the price of coal up to the utilities and in the short term, I think well-capped (mining) companies make a lot of money.

"(But) In the long term I think the cost of energy's going to rise pretty fast in the United States."

Harvey turned to the possibility of further action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is reviewing permits in West Virginia for surface, or mountaintop, mining, which opponents charge pollutes natural water systems.

"The other thing that's going to be hit very hard, and this is on the gas side and the coal side -- the EPA is very focused on water and discharge of water, whether it's a drill hole or a mine hole.

"Water is going to be ... it's the new air. Remember the '90s, all the changes in the air regulation?

"We're seeing the same sort of thing on water and it's going to drive the price of energy up domestically," he said.

"I think these are costs that society will bear."

Earlier, Consol reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and forecast increased coal exports to Asia and a doubling of its natural gas production in the next five years. (Reporting by Steve James, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)