The nation’s top electricity regulator is expected to get an earful from states and utilities worried that the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed power plant rules will lead to an unreliable electrical grid.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold its fourth and final conference on the EPA rules Tuesday in St. Louis, representing a region of the country expected to be affected significantly by the rules because of its dependence on coal-fired electricity.
The rules could prompt power plants to close down, raising serious reliability concerns for the region.
The rules are meant to reduce carbon dioxide from the nation’s existing fleet of power plants by having states, not individual power plants, comply with state-specific emission targets. Many scientists say the carbon emitted from power plants and other sources is driving manmade climate change.
The rules are an essential piece of the Obama administration’s environmental agenda, which has provoked the ire of many Republicans and some Democrats who call the rules regulatory “overreach” and an affront to states’ rights.
Critics argue that the rules, known as the Clean Power Plan, could cause power outages, increase the price of electricity and hurt consumers.
A review of comments submitted ahead of the meeting show that even those who aren’t as worried as others still have deep reservations.
They fear the rules could fundamentally alter the electricity markets, with the potential of harming consumers through higher prices and a return to a system more balkanized, less competitive and less reliable.
“What does seem clear is if state compliance with the Clean Power Plan results in a re-balkanization of the grid, all states in the Midwest region and their ratepayers would be negatively affected,” said Minnesota public utility commissioner Nancy Lange in prepared remarks submitted ahead of the meeting.
Other states and utilities argue that the rules are driving states to create a patchwork of compliance plans.
Mike Peters, president and CEO of municipal utility WPPI, pointed out that the utility has ratepayers in five states, which will have five different ways of complying with the rules.
“There is an added level of uncertainty when we think about how these five unknowns will interact with one another, and we believe that there is a need for more modeling that examines the consequences of states choosing different approaches…to better understand potential reliability impacts,” Peters said.
Lanny Nickell, vice president of regional grid operator Southwest Power Pool, said the timing of the rule is “infeasible” and must be pushed back to avoid reliability problems.
That concern has been raised by many stakeholders, who say the interim targets that begin in 2020 are too aggressive and don’t account for the time needed to build the infrastructure required to comply.
