Today, 27 states (blue in the map below) filed motions with the U.S. Supreme Court to stay EPA’s carbon rule that was finalized in early May. In response to the state filings, America’s Power released the following statement by Michelle Bloodworth, President and CEO:
We commend these states for asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop EPA from implementing the Clean Power Plan 2.0. Halting the rule until legal challenges are settled is necessary to prevent utilities from wasting hundreds of millions of ratepayer dollars in an attempt to comply with a rule that is not only an illegal overreach but will undermine the reliability of our electricity system, reduce supplies of electricity at the same time electricity demand is exploding, and allow the administration to impose its unrealistic and expensive energy preferences on states and consumers. By issuing the rule, EPA has ignored the concerns that states, grid operators, utility commissioners, America’s Power, and many others have expressed about the rule’s impacts.
The Clean Power Plan 2.0 is designed to force the closure of coal power plants even though they provide dependable electricity to ratepayers in 40 states. Because of artificial intelligence and other energy-intensive developments throughout the economy, the U.S. needs highly dependable sources of electricity, including coal, that enable our nation to be energy secure. We simply cannot eliminate coal and expect to maintain a reliable, affordable, and secure supply of electricity.
America’s Power will also be filing a stay motion with the Supreme Court, and we are optimistic that the courts will determine that EPA has overreached again, just as EPA did when it issued the original Clean Power Plan under former President Obama.
