The operators of four of the major power grids in the United States contend that the Biden administration’s proposed rules limiting carbon emissions will threaten the reliability of the supply of electricity.
The dire warnings are included in friend of the court briefs filed on behalf of the four regional transmission organizations challenging the new rules. West Virginia Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Morrisey is among the AGs leading the legal fight against the regulations.
The grid operators, including PJM which covers West Virginia, are required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to maintain reliable bulk power to all or parts of 30 states and Washington, D.C.
The Biden administration’s EPA released the new carbon rules earlier this year requiring existing coal plants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2039 and any new natural gas power plants to meet draconian emission standards.
The new standards will hasten the already precipitous rate of closure of existing coal-fired power plants and discourage new natural gas power plants from being built. Supporters believe the rules will reduce emissions that contribute to climate change. However, the grid operators are warning of the impact on the supply of power.
“The compliance timelines and related provisions of the rule are not workable [emphasis added] and are destined to trigger an acceleration in the pace of premature retirements of electric generating units that possess critical reliability attributes at the very time when such generation is needed to support ever-increasing electricity demand,” said the grid operators in their brief.
In short, if the new EPA rules go into effect, the supply of electricity will not be able to keep up with demand.
Keep in mind this warning is not coming from the coal or gas industries, Republican Attorneys General, or from climate change deniers; this is the fear of the independent operators of the power grids. They have no agenda other than fulfilling their requirements to, as they said in their legal brief, “coordinate the generation and transmission of the right amount of electricity every minute of every day to meet individual and end-use customer requirements.”
Carbon emissions that contribute to climate change are a real concern, but so is grid reliability. Imagine the impact on each segment of our economy and nearly every aspect of our lives if the supply of electricity is undependable or rationed?
The grid operators want the court to force the EPA to reconsider its rules and take into account the threat to reliability. Given the warnings from those responsible for delivering electricity to much of the nation, that is the only logical decision the court can reach.