NRECA outlines its support for replacing Clean Power Plan
Daniel Chartier, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) regulatory director of Environmental Policy, described Tuesday the association’s support for repealing and replacing the Clean Power Plan (CPP) at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) public hearing in Charleston, West Virginia.
“NRECA supports EPA’s efforts to repeal the Clean Power Plan, and strongly encourages EPA to propose and finalize a 111(d) rule, consistent with the history of the regulation,” Chartier said. “Both actions are needed to provide America’s electric cooperatives and their members with a rule that is clear and durable.”
Chartier said that the CPP was built on a flawed view of EPA’s authority to regulate power plants under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act, as it requires actions that must be applied “outside the fence line” of a power plant. Before the CPP, all Section 111 rules dealt with actions that could be taken at the power plant itself, he noted.
NRECA also supports replacing the CPP because, Chartier said, it violates the concept of cooperative federalism by giving the EPA preference over states related to creating performance standards for power plants on a unit-by-unit basis. He also mentioned that the EPA’s economic analysis of the plan understated its costs while overstating its benefits.
“We encourage EPA to act quickly to develop a common-sense, flexible replacement rule for the Clean Power Plan that is legally defensible and ensures the flexibility, affordability, and reliability of electricity production for Americans who depend on electric cooperatives,” Chartier said.
