Upcoming EPA Power Plan Regulation Will Usher In Higher Electricity Costs For States, Reduced Grid Reliability
WASHINGTON – The upcoming unveiling of the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to impose new far-reaching regulations on emissions of existing power plants promises to bring unwelcome increases in electricity prices for consumers and businesses, warns the National Mining Association.
“This plan is all pain and no gain,” said Luke Popovich, vice president of communications for the National Mining Association. “That’s why state leaders across the country are coming to the same conclusion—that we should not sacrifice our power system to an unworkable plan built on a faulty interpretation of the law.”
Under the so-called Clean Power Plan created by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA has come up with what it calls an “electricity emission budget” for each state—budgets based on complex assumptions about future electricity demand, changes in electricity sources, and reductions in energy use. EPA is calling on states to submit their own power plans based on these assumptions.
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“According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which monitors the dependability of our power systems, EPA in fact underestimates the number of power plants that will be closed under its plan—and overestimates the amount of new power sources and energy efficiency that will be available to fill the gap.”
If states implement plans using EPA’s emission budgets, Popovich said, serious consequences will follow:
- Grid reliability will be threatened; cascading outages could become the new normal.
- Reductions in affordable electricity sources will drive up wholesale electricity costs, forcing higher utility bills onto households and businesses.
- States will be following an EPA plan which may unlawfully impose on the states’ authority.
“The good news is that the Clean Air Act gives governors a choice in this matter,” he said.
“They can choose not to submit a state power plan to the EPA. They have the power to protect their constituents by refusing to surrender control of their states’ energy policy to regulators who ignore the costs to their citizens.”
For more information, please visit www.nma.org.