High-ranking Senate Republicans are urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to conduct an immediate evaluation of the potential impact of the Biden regime’s regulations on fossil fuel power plants on the reliability of the electric grid, Fox News reports.
In a letter addressed to FERC’s four members, Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the Ranking Members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee respectively, expressed their concerns about the consequences of Biden’s policies on grid reliability.
Sen. John Barrasso: "The reckless energy policies of this administration are dictated by the climate elitists who call the tune for the Democrat Party. And because of those policies that's one of the reasons we have 40-year high inflation right now in the United States." pic.twitter.com/Jl9BDXTWcP
— The Hill (@thehill) March 12, 2022
The senators highlighted the mounting pressure for premature retirements of electric generating units and the increasing risks to electric reliability.
They called for FERC to convene representatives of relevant entities and interested parties to develop a comprehensive record on the potential impact of the Clean Power Plan 2.0.
Barrasso and Capito emphasized that FERC’s consultations with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be ineffective without this crucial record.
They asserted that EPA lacked the expertise to accurately assess the impact of its rulemaking on electric reliability without the active participation of FERC and entities under its jurisdiction responsible for generating and delivering electricity.
The GOP senators requested that FERC organize a series of technical conferences to examine the administration’s power plant regulations and scrutinize the “unjustifiable claims about the future availability of technologies.”
The EPA’s power plant regulations, unveiled in May, aim to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants by imposing new standards that require either the utilization of carbon capture technology or the retirement of coal and gas plants.
The EPA projects a reduction of 617 million metric tons of carbon pollution through 2042 with these measures.
Industry groups and experts have expressed major concerns about the proposal, warning that it could lead to the premature retirement of reliable and dispatchable power generation, resulting in power supply shortages.
Fossil fuels currently account for over 60% of total U.S. electricity generation, while renewable energy sources such as wind and solar contribute 14%, according to federal data.
