The nation’s electricity supply won’t be put in jeopardy by a pair of major regulations intended to curb air pollution from power plants.
That reassurance comes from a Department of Energy report addressing concerns raised by segments of the power industry that new regulations could lead to electricity blackouts by forcing permanent closings or disruptive overhauls of coal-fired plants.
As The Christian Science Monitor reports, one of the pending Environmental Protection Agency initiatives at issue is the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Scheduled to take effect beginning in January, it aims to reduce smokestack emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in 27 states.
The other initiative is the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule. It would require power-plant operators to filter out mercury, and other toxic gases, and is set to be unveiled this month.
Those rules, the Energy Department said, wouldn’t jeopardize the nation’s power, although some additional power generation from natural gas would be needed in Texas. The report states that while “resource adequacy would not be compromised,” the retirements of power plants and other factors “could lead to grid-reliability challenges” in some areas.
The report provides a rebuttal to a 2010 forecast by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, an industry group that oversees power grid issues. That forecast had said that proposed federal pollution rules eventually would cut nearly in half the amount of reserve energy available nationally.
The electricity industry itself has been divided on the new pollution rules. As The New York Times reports, companies with old, dirty coal plants have pushed for a delay. But companies with cleaner plants that expect more demand if their competitors’ coal plants are idled have favored the new rules.
The Energy Department report comes amid pressure from Congressional Republicans who contend that Obama administration regulations are killing jobs and harming an already weak economy. Bowing to some of that pressure, the administration has relaxed some proposed regulations, including the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, while pressing ahead on other environmental protections.
STUART SILVERSTEIN
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