Electric cooperatives in South Dakota are bracing for what they describe as the negative financial and reliability impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newly released Clean Power Plan regulating existing power plants.
Acting under what the EPA says is its authority given to them by Congress under the section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, the agency today released a final rule that will seek to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. South Dakota Rural Electric Association General Manager Ed Anderson says the new regulations are a clear overreach by the EPA that will dramatically reshape how America generates and uses electricity.
“This rule will have a dramatic impact on the electric bills paid by every South Dakotan,” Anderson said. “We’ve worked extremely hard to control costs and keep electricity affordable, but the EPA’s plan will simply increase the cost of electricity for every consumer.”
Anderson said his members have for years been working to lessen the impact on the environment by adding renewable generation and lower-emitting resources while saving consumers money on their electric bills through energy efficiency programs.
“Electric cooperatives have been steadily reducing the environmental impact of power generation while adding natural gas and renewable resources,” Anderson said. “And our members have been engaged in energy efficiency and demand response programs for decades to keep consumers’ electricity bills affordable. The EPA’s regulations won’t give us credit for all of the investment we’ve already made in renewable generation and punish electric consumers even more with higher bills.”
As consumer-owned utilities, electric cooperatives will be disproportionately affected by the rule by increasing electricity prices and jeopardizing reliability. By shutting down coal-fired generation, the EPA will remove a vital safety net in emergencies or times of extreme power demand. Anderson said consumers will be hit with higher electric bills while the rule impacts reliability of the power grid.
“Co-op employees and directors live in the communities they serve and they care about the members at the end of the line who will be footing the bill to comply with these overreaching regulations,” Anderson said. “The EPA admits that the rule would prematurely shut down more than one quarter of electric cooperative’s coal-fired generation capacity across the country. The burden of paying off the remaining debt on those plants and paying for electricity from other sources would fall on the backs of our consumers in South Dakota.”
During the EPA’s rulemaking process, end-consumer members of South Dakota’s electric cooperatives sent in more than 28,000 comments to the EPA calling on the agency to abandon their overreaching regulations.
“South Dakotans made their voice heard loud and clear during the public comment period, and we appreciate their efforts to tell the EPA their concerns,” said Anderson.
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