Advanced Energy Perspectives

Two months after the Supreme Court voted to stay enforcement of the Clean Power Plan (CPP), utilities across the country are preparing for compliance undeterred, spurred on by the inevitability of a lower-carbon, advanced energy future. In fact, many utilities are moving in that direction already. And for the rest, given that their investment decisions are made on a time horizon much longer than the Supreme Court’s stay, ignoring the CPP would be neither prudent nor practical. Judging by their public statements, utilities are baking the CPP into their future plans.

Last week, in an unprecedented move, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to stay EPA’s Clean Power Plan. While this is certainly a setback for the CPP at the federal level, it is clear that work will continue at the federal and state levels in a variety of forms. Since the stay, many states have weighed in on the decision: 16 states will continue to plan for compliance with the rule, 12 states have suspended planning efforts, eight states have yet to announce any planning process, and six states are still reviewing their options post-stay. AEE will continue to monitor states’ actions in the aftermath of the ruling. Here is what we know so far.

EPA’s greenhouse gas regulation, the Clean Power Plan, won’t take effect until 2022, but planning is already well underway in states across the country. Initial state compliance plans are due in September of this year but many states will opt for an extension and submit final plans in 2018. As states think about how to reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants, many of them are turning to advanced energy which is already being deployed across the country at a growing rate. They should do so earlier, rather than later. That’s because EPA is allowing them to get credit for some advanced energy deployed before the official start of the Clean Power Plan compliance period in 2022. And too few states are aware of how much they could benefit from that.

This blog post is the second in a two-part series on states’ progress towards compliance under EPA's Clean Power Plan, and a follow-up to an earlier two-part series on states’ initial reactions. Check out Part 1 here, and the earlier series here and here.

The publication of the final Clean Power Plan (CPP) in the Federal Register on Oct. 23 prompted a suite of suits from states, both in opposition and in support of the rule. However, the vast majority of states have started some part of the process of convening stakeholders, soliciting public input, and talking with EPA - even if those states that are suing. “Officials in practically every state have been doing some amount of work,” Kyle Danish, partner at Van Ness Feldman, told InsideClimate News. Today’s post looks at the significant progress being made even in states that are suing EPA.

This blog post is the first in a two-part series on states’ progress towards compliance under EPA's Clean Power Plan, and a follow-up to an earlier two-part series on states’ initial reactions. Check out Part 2 here. Check out the earlier series here and here.

The publication of the final Clean Power Plan (CPP) in the Federal Register on Oct. 23 prompted a suite of suits from states, both in opposition and in support of the rule. This post provides a scorecard on the states currently involved in the legal action — 45 in all — and tracks the progress being made in states that support the CPP or are simply quietly moving ahead on compliance. Tomorrow’s post will look at the progress being made in states that are suing EPA, which is significant.