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The Biden administration proposed regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants have come under fire this week from the electric industry. According to the US grid operators, the plan relies on expensive, unreliable technology that is neither technically or legally sound.
The 13-state PJM Interconnection, the 15-state Midcontinent ISO, the 15-state Southwest Power Pool, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, four of the largest US grid operators, expressed concern with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed requirements in a group of comments submitted this week.
The EPA is underestimating how soon technology advancements in carbon capture and storage and green hydrogen production may occur, the operators cautioned, adding that this might have a materially negative influence on the reliability of the electrical system.
The future supply of compliant generation, given the forced retirements of non-compliant generation, would be far below what is required to meet power demand, raising the possibility of significant power shortages.
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Power Plant Dilemma: Unproven Technologies and Environmental Doubts
Additionally, the proposed rule could hasten the retirement of fossil-fueled power plants before they can be replaced with new generation that can provide necessary reliability services.
The top trade association for investor-owned electric companies, the Edison Electric Institute, expressed the same worries in a more polite manner, saying that electric companies are not confident that the new technologies EPA has chosen to serve as the basis for proposed standards for new and existing fossil-based generation will satisfy performance and cost requirements on the timelines that EPA projects.
The Environmental Protection Agency published a proposal in May that would mandate significant reductions in pollution from facilities using coal or natural gas.
The law urges the plants to rely on carbon capture and storage technology as well as green hydrogen to help reduce emissions, but no US power plant presently uses these technologies, and even some environmentalists are unsure they will work.
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Source: www.msn.com
