I wrote several posts last year about possible energy reliability issues resulting from new environmental regulations that would affect power generation. Since then, the Congressional Research Service has put out a report analyzing possible reliability issues. Also, FERC has put out a paper on extending the deadline for certain generating facilities in areas that may face reliability issues.
The MACT rules affect primarily older coal generation plants. The CRS concludes in their report that “it is unlikely that electric reliability will be harmed by the rule (MACT).” The report also states that the “EPA estimates that the average price of electricity nationally will increase by 3.1% by 2015, as a result of the rule.” The rule will “result in about a 90% reduction from uncontrolled power plant emissions of mercury, nine other toxic metals, and three acid gases, all of which were listed by Congress as hazardous air pollutants in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.”
Links
EPA’s Utility MACT: Will the Lights Go Out? (Congressional Research Service)
Utility MACT and Reliability: One More Brief Post (Law & the Environment) – a good blog post detailing the process to extend the MACT deadline for individual generators
Air Toxics Standards for Utilities (EPA) – includes rule
Ben Koopferstock
Sam Petsonk
Jeff Wieand
Anthony Raucci
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