Daily on Energy: The EPA’s curious response to massive coal plant closure

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a statement Thursday night saying it “did not seek retirement” of a 1,300 megawatt coal unit run by American Electric Power, and affirming that EPA “supports power generation from all sources of energy.”

Environmentalist critics of the administration and even allies said EPA’s response was unusual, given the agency’s past role in filing a legal case against AEP that ultimately concluded in the utility deciding to close the coal plant.

Ohio-based AEP will retire the Rockport coal unit by 2028, which would be the largest single coal plant to be retired since 2010. The unit has existed since 1984.

“This is truly bizarre and bend-over-backwards craven,” John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) told me. “I have never seen anything like this in my 25 years as a Clean Air Act attorney. It’s just political simpering to make sure it’s known the Trump administration does not agree with a company’s own decision to retire a coal unit it owns.”

How the story begins: The story with the Rockport coal plant began in 2007, when AEP reached a deal with the George W. Bush administration EPA, several northeastern states, and environmental groups including NRDC to settle allegations that the utility expanded the plant without obtaining proper permits and installing pollution control equipment. AEP denied the allegations, and the courts did not decide on its innocence or guilt.

The so-called consent agreement has been revised 5 times since 2007, with AEP as part of the initial iterations, committing to install pollution control technologies. The Trump administration inherited the case when it took power in 2017.

AEP changes course: In May, the parties agreed to one last change to the agreement. Rather than continuing to install expensive pollution control equipment, AEP decided it would be less costly to simply retire the plant.

Judge Edmund Sargus of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio signed off on the agreement Thursday, permitting AEP to retire the coal plant.

Melissa McHenry, a spokeswoman for AEP, told me the utility decided to retire the coal plant for economic reasons, as it transitions to cleaner fuel sources. She said the Trump administration EPA, as a party to the consent decree, signed off on the changes.

“The consent decree was agreed to by all the parties,” McHenry said. “The administration’s position on coal and fuel diversity has been very clear. We still have coal. We still believe in fuel diversity. But for this coal unit, it makes sense for us to retire it.”

The decision comes as AEP aims to reduce coal use from nearly half its electricity mix to 27% by 2030, while cutting its carbon emissions 80% by 2050.

“Our investments are focused on renewable generation and advanced technologies that enhance service for our customers,” AEP CEO Nicholas Akins said in a statement Thursday.

So why is EPA making this a big deal? EPA spokesman Michael Abboud clarified to me that the agency, by issuing its statement distancing itself from AEP’s decision, is not “registering opposition” to the utility’s move to close the coal plant. He said the agency sought to counter “inaccurate reporting” that he said was “conflating” EPA’s role in the decision, as if the agency mandated it.

To Walke, that’s beside the point.

“This is what the company wanted,” he said of AEP retiring the plant. “You can’t stop them.”

Jeff Holmstead, a Trump administration ally and attorney with the firm Bracewell, which represents coal-burning utilities, said that EPA’s statement seemed like it was meant to give the agency political cover.

“The EPA under this administration does not want anyone to believe the agency is forcing the closure of coal plants,” Holmstead told me. “The EPA’s statement just reflects the fact that our president has been very pro-coal and they don’t want to be accused of undermining that.”

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NEW YORK ANNOUNCES LARGEST OFFSHORE WIND CONTRACT IN US HISTORY: New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that his state awarded the nation’s largest offshore wind agreement as part of an aggressive plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand renewable energy.

New York selected Danish power company Orstead and Norway-based oil and gas giant Equinor to build two wind projects off the coast of Long Island, totaling 1,700 megawatts, enough to power more than 1 million homes in the state. The projects will become operational within the next five years.

“With this agreement, New York will lead the way in developing the largest source of offshore wind power in the nation,” said Cuomo, a Democrat.

The announcement continues growing momentum for the young U.S. offshore wind industry, which has lagged that of Europe, where the energy source is cheap and has benefited from subsidies.

So far, Block Island, a small 30-megawatt wind farm off the Rhode Island coast that can power 17,000 homes, is the nation’s only offshore project. Utility Dominion Energy began construction this month on a second offshore wind project in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia.

CUOMO ALSO SIGNS NET-ZERO EMISSIONS BILL: Cuomo made the offshore wind announcement after he signed a law passed by the state legislature last month requiring New York to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 across all sectors of the economy.

The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, considered the most aggressive climate legislation in the country, would require New York to cut its emissions 85% below 1990 levels by 2050, and offset the remaining 15% through methods such as carbon capture.

Its net-zero emissions by 2050 target is a state-level version of what many Democratic nominees for president have called for at the federal level.

As part of its goal, New York would have to obtain 70% of its electricity from renewables by 2030 and use entirely carbon-free power by 2040. The offshore wind project will help meet that goal.

New York currently gets about 60% of its electricity from carbon-free sources, mostly from hydro and nuclear power.

New York’s net-zero bill also applies to harder-to-decarbonize sectors such as transportation, buildings, and industrial facilities.

TRUMP SAYS US SHOT DOWN IRANIAN DRONE OVER STRAIT OF HORMUZ: The U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone threatening a U.S. warship in the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump said Thursday.

The U.S. took action amid escalating tensions with the Middle East country, and continued jostling in the Strait of Hormuz, a 21-mile-wide waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. About 18.5 million barrels of oil travel through it daily, accounting for approximately 30% of the world’s sea-traded oil. The U.S. has imposed strict sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.

Trump announced that the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer “took defensive action” and “immediately destroyed” the drone, which he said came too close for comfort to the ship.

“This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters,” Trump said at a press conference.

A statement issued by Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman used more careful language, which stopped short of claiming the drone was shot down or destroyed. “A fixed wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) approached Boxer and closed within a threatening range,” Hoffman said. “The ship took defensive action against the UAS to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew.”

Iran denies its drone was shot down: Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mocked the accusation on Friday, and a spokesman for the Iranian military called the U.S. version of events “delusional and groundless,” according to CNN.

“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” Araghchi tweeted. “ I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!”

BIPARTISAN GROUP RELEASES BILL TO BOOST RENEWABLES ON PUBLIC LANDS: A bipartisan group of more than two dozen House members introduced legislation Thursday to boost renewable energy development on public lands.

The Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act would streamline permitting of wind, solar, and geothermal energy on public lands. It establishes a revenue-sharing mechanism from the energy production that seeks to ensure a fair return among relevant stakeholders, including the state and counties hosting the development.

About 15% of the revenues will be used to help speed the processing of permit applications and reducing a backlog of renewable energy permits on public lands.

“This bipartisan bill will cut red tape standing in the way of developing renewable energy across America’s public lands,” said Representative Paul Gosar, Republican of Arizona, the lead co-sponsor of the bill with Democrat Mike Levin of California.

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva of Arizona and top Republican Rob Bishop of Utah also co-sponsored the bill, an unusual alliance given their usual feuding over energy issues.

“Supporting all energy resources such as wind, solar, and geothermal ensures a reliable and affordable domestic energy supply while supporting well-paying American jobs,” Bishop said.

BISHOP RECONSIDERS PLAN TO RETIRE IN 2020: Bishop may not retire in 2020 as originally planned, he told reporters Thursday.

“I was surprised at the number of people who are asking me to reconsider it, and in deference I need to do that,” he said, in comments reported by Politico and E&E News.

Bishop, 68, had indicated before winning re-election in 2018 that he planned to retire instead of running for a tenth-term in 2020.

But Bishop now says he will officially announce a decision on whether to run again July 29 in Utah. Bishop is a supporter of Trump’s agenda to expand energy development on public lands, and was influential in pushing the president to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante national monuments in Utah.

Bishop has served two of his terms (four years) as chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, which oversees public lands policy and the Interior Department. This is his first two-year term as ranking member. GOP House rules limit chairs and ranking members to six years atop a committee, so Bishop could not serve in those positions again if he were to run and win in 2020.

The Rundown

Reuters Expiring US solar subsidy spurs rush for panels

Washington Post EPA will not ban use of controversial pesticide linked to children’s health problems

The Hill EPA halts surprise inspections of power, chemical plants

Wall Street Journal Clean energy loans boom in Florida, but so do complaints

Calendar

TUESDAY | July 23

10 a.m., 366 Dirksen. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing to examine the United States’ interests in the Freely Associated States.

WEDNESDAY | July 24

10 a.m., 120 Cannon. House Budget Committee holds a hearing focused on the costs of climate change.

WEDNESDAY | July 24

10 a.m., 2123 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee holds a hearing on “Building America’s Clean Future: Pathways to Decarbonize the Economy.”