Tri-State could halt Clean Power Plan until Congress lifts strict rules
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., CEO Micheal McInnessaid on Thursday that the company might discontinue its Clean Power Plan until the Supreme Court adopts the “pencil down’ approach.
“We have supported states ‘putting the pencil down’ for many reasons, but primarily because we feel it is wasteful to spend the money of tax payers and consumers to develop a plan for an unknown target,” McInnes said. “There are so many variables that could change that any plan developed today likely would have to be redone.”
McInnes delivered his statement before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at its hearing on the potential impact of the Clean Power Plan. Tri-State and other electric co-ops do not often have the resources to develop premature Clean Power Plans that may be thrown out if the rule is not ultimately passed in Congress, the executive argued.
McInnes also said that electric co-ops are unique, in that they are not-for-profit and do not have a vast base of customers across whom costs can be spread. Tri-State is a member-owned generation and transmission cooperative that serves distribution co-ops and public energy areas in New Mexico, Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association also released a statement in support of the Clean Power Plan stay, saying that the legislation could have immediate consequences for America’s electric co-ops.
