August 2, 2022
For Immediate Release
August 2, 2022
Washington, D.C. – America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth issued the following statement on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022:
“We and others have become increasingly concerned about the threat to electric reliability caused by the premature shutdown of coal plants. That is why we are extremely disappointed that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will accelerate the closure of coal plants by extending tax credits for wind and solar power. Impartial officials and regulators responsible for grid reliability have issued warnings about potential reliability problems, citing the closure of coal plants as a main reason. Even without extending tax credits, utilities have already announced plans to shut down more than 40 percent of their coal plants within the next eight years. This is equivalent to shutting down the combined electricity supplies (all sources of electricity, not just coal) of Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
“Wind and solar have received tax credits for decades and no longer need them in order to expand. Even though they have a role to play as part of an all-the-above energy strategy, wind and solar are less dependable than coal for generating electricity. In fact, a coal plant is six times more dependable than a wind farm and twice as dependable as a solar facility.
“In addition to coal retirements caused by the IRA tax credits, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to issue several new regulations to force the shutdown of even more coal plants. For example, just one of these new regulations is projected to force the closure of an additional 23,000 megawatts of coal within the next three years, which is more than 10 percent of the existing coal fleet and enough electricity to power at least 15 million homes. Many of these closures will be in regions of the country that already face potential electricity shortages. Issuing new EPA regulations that cause more coal retirements would be irresponsible.
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America’s Power is a partnership of industries involved in producing electricity from coal.