With EPA’s Clean Power Plan scheduled for its first day in court on April 16, opposition to the rule has heated up on the Hill—or, more accurately, off the Hill. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a call for states to “just say no” to EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) with an op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Ledger, then sent a letter to the governors of all 50 states advising them not to comply with the rule.
Ever since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed Clean Power Plan last June, critics have raised concerns that the proposed regulation might jeopardize the reliability of our electricity system. Reliability has become a key policy talking-point, and for good reason: Nobody wants to see the lights go off. Reliable electricity is essential to our daily lives, our economy, our health, and our safety. According to a new report by The Brattle Group prepared for the Advanced Energy Economy Institute (AEEI), however, the Clean Power Plan will not come at the expense of reliability. As they continue policy discussions and begin to develop compliance plans, states and system operators should take notice.
Read the full Brattle Group report here.
In the report, The Brattle Group addresses concerns voiced by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) in its Initial Reliability Review (IRR) of the Clean Power Plan, and finds that NERC not only overstated the potential problems, but also ignored key solutions.
Topics: Federal Priorities