Ohio and 26 other states have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) power plant rule, finalized in early May. Among the declarations of harm filed is one from Buckeye Power, a not-for-profit power generation corporation for Ohio’s electric cooperatives.
The statement from Buckeye Power reads: "Given the loss of baseload power, the inability for new coal or gas-fired plants to meet the level of carbon capture required by the power plant rule and the time required to build even intermittent renewables or low-capacity turbines, Buckeye Power Inc. expects reliability issues and significantly higher electric rates for its consumers if the power plant rule goes into effect."
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied states' requests for a stay, prompting both the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and several states to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“EPA’s power plant rule is unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable,” stated Jim Matheson, President and CEO of NRECA. “It undermines electric reliability and poses immediate and grave consequences for an already stressed electric grid.”
The contested rule could lead to premature closures of essential power plants amid rising electricity demand.
Michelle Bloodworth, President and CEO of America’s Power, which advocates for reliable fossil-fuel-based power generation, commented on the states' Supreme Court action: "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."
Bloodworth further criticized EPA's disregard for concerns raised by various stakeholders about potential impacts on electricity reliability.
"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," Bloodworth added. "Because of artificial intelligence and other energy-intensive developments throughout the economy, the U.S. needs highly dependable sources of electricity, including coal."
America’s Power plans to file its own stay motion with optimism that courts will again determine EPA has overreached.