Washington, D.C. – Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new rule to limit carbon emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants. In response, America’s Power issued the following statement by Michelle Bloodworth, President and CEO:
“Coal power plants are one of our most dependable and affordable sources of electricity. Unfortunately, EPA’s proposed carbon rule is at least the third rule EPA has issued within less than two years that is designed specifically to cause the premature closure of coal power plants. The proposal raises a number of critical legal questions, including whether EPA has the authority to force the use of technologies that are not economically or technically feasible for widespread use. One of the consequences of prematurely retiring coal plants is to exacerbate the risk of power outages. It makes no sense for EPA to propose a rule to shut down more coal plants one week after all four commissioners from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) testified before the Senate Energy Committee that coal plants are needed to maintain grid reliability. In addition to FERC, grid operators and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation have issued warnings for more than two years about the potential for electricity shortages due to the retirement of coal plants and other dispatchable electricity sources. We strongly urge EPA to modify the proposal to avoid premature coal retirements, rather than speed up retirements and jeopardize grid reliability.”
###
America’s Power is a partnership of industries involved in producing electricity from coal.