“When I read some of the EPA documents when they were releasing the rule, one thing really struck me was a quote. They said the power sector has a broad set of tools to deploy clean, affordable energy, take advantage of ready to go advance pollution technology, create and retain good paying jobs and reduce energy costs for families and businesses. Now you can debate many of the things in that quote, but to suggest that this rule or the energy transition as a whole is going to reduce costs, energy costs for Americans? That’s just irresponsible. That is not what we’re looking at. And we can’t keep promising that to people.”
What Others Are Saying
Below is a collection of quotes from industry experts, policymakers, officials, and others on various electrical grid issues. Use the filters below to find perspectives on topics like coal retirements, reliability, regulations and more.
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- Julie Fedorchak
- Commissioner
- North Dakota Public Service Commission
- FERC 2023 Reliability Technical Conference Electric Energy Stakeholders Panel
- 11/09/2023
“The proposed greenhouse gas rule “would inject additional cost and uncertainty [into the power sector] … by assuming the availability and affordability of unproven technologies. If the rules are adopted, consumers will pay more for a less-reliable system. “Given increasing signs of trouble on the grid, regulators should help stabilize the system, not exacerbate its problems.”
- Chris Parker
- Director
- Utah Dept. of Commerce’s Division of Public Utilities
- House Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing & Critical Materials Hearing
- 11/15/2023
“When it comes to concerns with the rules, one of the things that I would put forward is that timeline is one of the most important aspects when it comes to the infrastructure and technology available to it. When you look at where SRP is located out in Arizona, I would refer you to the SunZia transmission line. This transmission line between New Mexico and Arizona has taken more than 16 years to get permitted. And I think I would use that as an example of where you have adequate investment, you have interest and desire by energy entities are really just out in the west we have a significant amount of federal land and that adds to the permitting requirements, the siting requirements to actually get infrastructure built. So, while we understand and appreciate the mission that EPA is trying to accomplish, we think it needs to be met with the practicality of trying to turn plans no matter how ambition in into reality and infrastructure.”
- Bobby Olsen
- Associate General Manager
- SRP
- FERC 2023 Reliability Technical Conference
- 11/09/2023
“When we start a new transmission line today, it’s a 10-year process because nobody wants transmission. So, if it’s brand new and doesn’t have the right aways, we’re going to have to do condemnations, which is going to be tied up in court from cradle to grave. It’s a 10-year process at least so I think to say that it’s going to save the day is a fallacy right now that’s going to take more time. I get that we’re going to get there some time, but not in the short term.”
- Tony Campbell
- President and CEO
- East Kentucky Power Cooperative
- FERC 2023 Reliability Technical Conference
- 11/09/2023
“The technology is being developed, but it’s not here. And the EPA is pointed to a few projects, but they’re not scaled up and they’re not online so the timeframe is way too short. I mean, if you think about it, it took us 100 years to get to where we are the most reliable, dependable, affordable electric system in the world. And now we’re trying to change it in eight years. And that’s just not going to work. We need more time to get to these new technologies that are being developed.”
- Tony Campbell
- President and CEO
- East Kentucky Power Cooperative
- FERC 2023 Reliability Technical Conference
- 11/09/2023
“EPA is proposal is not salvageable. The real question is whether reliability might be salvageable. First, even if we put aside the enormous cost involved in the proposed rule relies on CCS and clean hydrogen, neither of which are ready at levels and scales for a sound economy that requires certainty and not in all regions of the country. The infrastructure needed for both technologies is not now and will not be in place at the scale to meet EPA’s deadlines. For instance, the developer of the Heartland Greenway CCS pipeline project, relied upon by the EPA and its analysis, recently cancelled the project.”
- Tony Campbell
- President and CEO
- East Kentucky Power Cooperative
- FERC 2023 Reliability Technical Conference
- 11/09/2023
“Overall position is that EPA ‘s proposal is unlawful and unworkable. The only way that the proposed rule will not have detrimental effects on the electric liability is for EPA to withdraw it.”
- Tony Campbell
- President and CEO
- East Kentucky Power Cooperative
- Electric Industry Stakeholders Panel
- 11/09/2023
“When I read some of the EPA documents when they were releasing the rule, one thing really struck me was a quote. They said the power sector has a broad set of tools to deploy clean, affordable energy, take advantage of ready to go advance pollution technology, create and retain good paying jobs and reduce energy costs for families and businesses. Now you can debate many of the things in that quote, but to suggest that this rule or the energy transition as a whole is going to reduce costs, energy costs for Americans? That’s just irresponsible. That is not what we’re looking at. And we can’t keep promising that to people.”
- Julie Fedorchak
- Commissioner
- North Dakota Public Service Commission
- FERC 2023 Reliability Technical Conference
- 11/09/2023
“As we sit here today, we cannot run a system on 100% renewables.”
- Asim Haque
- Senior Vice President
- PJM
- CNHINews: Reliability of power grid in Pa. threatened as energy sources dwindle: industry experts
- 11/02/2023
“If you’re going to do a transition to a different set of generation, it’s going to take time to make that happen,” Matheson said. “What’s bad policy is forcing closure of reliable assets that therefore compromise electric reliability of the grid.”
- Jim Matheson
- CEO
- National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
- Politico Grid Reliability Event
- 10/26/2023
“While CCS and hydrogen co-firing technologies show promise, they are not yet commercially or economically viable on a grid-scale basis—and there are no assurances they will become so on EPA’s optimistic timeline. If EPA’s proposed rule drives coal and gas resources to retire before enough replacement capacity is built with the critical attributes the system needs, grid reliability will be compromised.”
- Todd Ramey
- Senior Vice President Markets and Digital Strategy
- Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO)
- House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security
- 09/28/2023
“The technology for a non-synchronous type of generation grid is just not there yet. And it’s going to take years for that to advance. And in the meantime, we need a bridge to be able to get to the future. And that bridge is going to be thermal dispatchable generation.”
- Woody Rickerson
- Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
- Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
- House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security
- 09/28/2023
[Will the “current and proposed EPA power generation regulations make the problem with gas fuel supply worse?”] “Yes, because they’re going to drive up the cost of operating a coal generating unit. And if you drive up the cost, obviously that has to be paid for. Now, if the unit is in rate base, meaning in a vertically integrated state, well, then, consumers ultimately would have to pay the cost because cost in a per unit that’s in rate base, they get cost recovery through that mechanism.” […] “So, that unit could potentially stay open with consumers paying the additional cost. If the unit is in one of our RTO markets and they’re already at a point where they’re not recovering their capital costs or their operating costs through the market, then you know, you add additional costs, it just makes them even less financially viable. So, they’ll close even sooner.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy Subcommittee
- 06/13/2023
[On carbon capture technology] “It would be wonderful if carbon capture technology could be mature to where you could run coal or gas generating units with carbon capture and actually remove all the carbon and have that benefit. I don’t think the technology is anywhere near being mature yet, but time will tell.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy Subcommittee
- 06/13/2023
[On whether we are getting enough gas units build] “Looking at the PJMQ which is the line of units that want to get in and interconnected, about 90% of it is Wind, Solar or Batteries. I think only 4% is gas. The problem is that we are not getting enough new gas generation to provide backup to the increased deployment of wind and solar. The answer is no, we are not getting enough new. The bigger problem is the gas units we have increasingly can’t get the fuel supply to run as either baseload units that run all the time or as peaker units that have to be called in. It really is a matter of supply. If they can’t get the fuel supply then they can’t provide the power supply.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy Subcommittee
- 06/13/2023
“We’ve been watching carbon capture technology for some time, and it’s at least seven to 10 years to put a system into place in a commercial basis if it would work which is unclear to us at this time. The rule requires it by 2030 and there’s just no way we can make that.”
- Patrick O'Loughlin
- President and CEO
- Buckeye Power, Inc. and Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives
- U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce
- 06/06/2023
“I believe there’s a tipping point that is going to occur in 2028 because all the plants that are announced to close in 2028 — most of these coal plants are tied to specific regulations in the EPA. So, they are going to close. So, you have got between now and 2028 to come up with solutions.”
- David Tudor
- CEO
- Associated Electric Cooperative Inc.
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- 06/01/2023
“I think people need to understand the scale of this industry is enormous. So last year, we put 20 gigawatts of solar onto the system. That’s the most we have ever put on in a single year. And that’s only about 2 percent of the capacity of the United States. So even with everything that we have done to speed the development of renewables and so forth, with a static grid, we are on a 50- to 75-year trajectory to replace it. And the grid is not static because we are also trying to electrify transportation.”
- Jim Robb
- President and CEO
- North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- 06/01/2023
“The EPA’s new power plant rule will further strain America’s electric grid and wipe out decades of work to build the power generation capacity to keep the lights on across the country, dependably, with the flip of a switch. This proposal, if enacted, would disrupt domestic energy security, force reliable coal power plants to close, and make new natural gas plants almost impossibly difficult to get up and running.”
- Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH-6)
- Chair
- House Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“This proposal (Carbon Rule) will further strain America’s electric grid and undermine decades of work to reliably keep the lights on across the nation. And it is just the latest instance of EPA failing to prioritize reliable electricity as a fundamental expectation of American consumers. We’re concerned the proposal could disrupt domestic energy security, force critical always available power plants into early retirement, and make new natural gas plants exceedingly difficult to permit, site, and build.”
- Jim Matheson
- CEO
- National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
- Press Release in response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“With nearly 60% of our nation’s energy generated from natural gas and coal, this (Carbon Rule) will either require deployment of still nascent technologies at an impractical pace or force those plants to shut down entirely. With the many threats to global energy security, that is a grave risk to our economy and to our families. The U.S. cannot afford to shut down more than half of our power generation and grind our economy to a halt.”
- Brandon Farris
- Vice President
- Energy and Resources Policy, National Association of Manufacturers
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“EPA’s new powerplant regulations go too far, too fast. Regulations must be grounded in what is technologically feasible and commercially available. Going beyond that, as this regulation does, could threaten electric reliability, and raise energy prices to unsustainable levels, harming the entire economy.”
- Marty Durbin
- President
- U.S. Chamber’s Global Energy Institute
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“Fleet change is not the only challenge we face. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe. Electric vehicles and electric heating in homes and businesses are also poised to grow, which could exert new pressures on the grid in hours of the day and seasons of the year that rarely posed risks in the past.”
- John Bear
- CEO
- Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc. (MISO)
- The Timberjay
- 02/22/2023
“Renewables also don’t necessarily map to where demand is, unlike fossil fuels, which can be transported and burned near where they’re consumed. That means more transmission lines are needed and building them can take from seven to 15 years.”
- John Moura
- Director of Reliability Assessment,
- North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
- NERC 2022 Long-Term Reliability Assessment
- 12/15/2022