Opinion: Why the EPA’s new rule is unfair to Utah companies and customers
Clean energy and clean air are universal values. We want our air to be as clean and pure as possible. And, we all agree that generating the electricity we all need as cleanly as possible is an ongoing effort. Regulating electricity and electric power generation is a job handled most effectively and fairly at the state, not federal, level. Yet year after year, we find ourselves responding to new federal requirements that ignore the needs of our customers here in Utah in favor of the pursuit of some lofty national goal.
Today, we’re being subjected to massive federal overreach in the form of the federal implementation plan, or FIP, of the EPA’s Cross State Air Pollution transport rule. Commonly referred to as the Good Neighbor rule, this new and costly regulatory push would place huge new burdens on Utah power companies to meet stringent ozone related emissions reductions … this in spite of the fact that our ozone layer has largely recovered from the problems of 30 years ago thanks to cleaner operating power plants.
Technology has resolved these problems.
Sadly, the EPA’s new good neighbor rule fails to recognize this. In fact, despite all the technological achievements that make power generation in America the cleanest in the world today, the EPA continues to push for more. This new push is both unnecessary and unfair to Utah electric generators and consumers.
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We’ve met the requirements imposed on us by various levels of government, and have done so year after year while still providing reliable and affordable electricity to our customers. Our air is clean. And our abundant and fairly priced electricity has helped our state economy to grow and flourish. But, now, the EPA wants Utah to shoulder the burden for much of the rest of the country with no regard to the impact of this on our state, and our economy.
The EPA wants Utah power plants to reduce our nitrous oxide emissions by 12,280 tons per year … that’s over 12% of the national reduction the EPA is seeking. We’re being told to do this despite the fact that, today, Utah only contributes between 1.4 and 1.9% of the national total. And that’s from ALL sources here in Utah.
Can we do it?
Probably.
But it would come at enormous cost to our state, to our economy, and to our ratepaying consumers. To meet this demand would require costly changes to existing facilities … changes that are not needed, and could cause the closing of some plants with many years of useful life left in them. This in turn would create strains on our electric grid by reducing available power and, at the same time, raising costs to our customers.
It’s not something we want, and it’s not something our state wants. Utah power plants are not driving ozone problems. Over the last two decades, while power generation has increased significantly, emissions from this work have declined precipitously. But it seems even our best efforts are never enough for the Washington bureaucrats and regulators who do not have to live with the consequences of their demands on us.
Regulating our industry is, and has historically been, a job done by our state Public Service Commission, Division of Public Utilities. They work hard to keep our air clean, and our electric power both abundant and affordable so our state economy can grow and our citizens can prosper. This is no place for the heavy hand of federal government overreach.
To protect our grid, our economy and the right of our state to manage our own affairs, I am grateful to Attorney General Sean Reyes, Gov. Spencer Cox, and our state legislature for opposing the EPA transport rule FIP.
Stan Summers is the Box Elder County Commissioner.
