For more than a year, energy and utilities experts have been warning that the EPA’s proposed “Clean Power Plan” (CPP) will increase electricity prices and jeopardize the reliability of America’s electric grid. But despite the warnings, President Obama made good recently on a promise to require steep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.

Under a new mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states are now required to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the electricity sector by 32 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2030. Specifically, each state must submit a compliance plan by 2018, with interim targets set for 2022, and final targets in place by 2030.