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UTILITIES WARNED EPA ABOUT HAMSTRINGING NATURAL GAS AND RENEWABLES WITH A COAL-ONLY CLIMATE RULE: The Environmental Protection Agency faces a major decision in whether to heed a utility industry warning as it finalizes its revised version of Obama-era climate rules for power plants next month.
The latest White House unified regulatory agenda, released just days ahead of the Memorial Day holiday recess, shows the Affordable Clean Energy rule being made final sometime in June, nearly a year after it was first proposed. The regulation is meant to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, a key piece of former President Barack Obama’s climate change agenda.
The utility industry’s question is whether the final rule will allow it to follow its own clean energy path, rather than meet the goals of the rule.
The utilities, represented by the Edison Electric Institute, told EPA last fall that they wanted assurances that the ACE rule would not interfere in company activities to install more natural gas and renewable energy. EEI stated that some of its companies are seeking to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, with other members seeking even more aggressive targets.
The large utility group warned that a lack of flexibility to continue the transition to cleaner energy would raise prices by focusing states on less-competitive energy resources like coal.
The emission reductions expected to be achieved under the ACE rule are moot: EPA has suggested that the ACE Rule will reduce U.S. power sector emissions by around 34% below 2005 levels. “However, those projected reductions have largely already been achieved due to the on-going fleet transition” from coal to natural gas and renewables, EEI explained.
The utility industry is concerned that the ACE rule’s preference for investing in coal plants to make them more efficient, and thus cleaner, could upset the energy “transformation” the country is currently undergoing, harming billions of dollars of investments and the jobs that go with them.
“EPA must consider this transformation if the Agency finalizes these proposals and provide [power plant] owners and operators and states significant compliance flexibility, consistent with the requirements of the [law],” EEI stated.
Failure to provide the flexibility “has the potential to undermine not only the clean energy transition by increasing costs for electricity customers, but also EPA’s proposed ACE rule itself, by increasing the economic burdens imposed on the remaining existing coal-based … fleet.”
The EPA is also slated to make final a separate action repealing the Clean Power Plan. The action would coincide with the two-year anniversary of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal on June 1.
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NUCLEAR POWER COULD FALL BY TWO-THIRDS, HARMING CLIMATE CHANGE FIGHT: Nuclear power could decline by 25% in developed countries such as the U.S. by 2025 and as much as two-thirds by 2040, a result that would setback efforts to combat climate change, according to a report Tuesday by the International Energy Agency.
If nuclear power falls by two-thirds, carbon emissions could rise by an additional 4 billion tons by 2040, the report warns.
“Without an important contribution from nuclear power, the global energy transition will be that much harder,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director. “Unless the barriers it faces are overcome, its role will soon be on a steep decline worldwide, particularly in the United States, Europe and Japan.”
The nuclear picture: Nuclear is the second-largest low carbon electricity source in the world, providing 10%, behind hydropower. It is the largest low-carbon electricity provider in developed countries such as the U.S., supplying 18% in 2018. However nuclear is struggling with old plants — averaging 35 years old in developed countries — beginning to close, partly because of policies, but mostly because of competition from cheaper gas and renewables.
Renewables not ready to close the gap: But wind and solar aren’t ready to replace nuclear, the IEA warns, projecting the use of renewables would have to accelerate to an “unprecedented level.”
How policy could help: The IEA suggests policymakers change electricity market rules to better capture the environmental and energy security value of nuclear. It said regulators should extend the operation of nuclear plants slated to expire. Countries should also support the design of advanced modular reactors, IEA says.
WIND TURBINE SALES RISE 7%, CHINA TAKES THE LEAD: Wind turbine sales rose 7% in the first quarter of 2019, compared to last year, with Chinese demand for the clean energy technology representing the largest portion of the increase.
The new orders eclipsed the previous record seen in the first quarter of 2018, a new report released Tuesday by energy consultants Wood Mackenzie showed.
The data revealed that orders from both China and the Americas helped to offset weak sales in Europe, the Mideast, Africa and Asia-Pacific nations, “where procurement decisions have been impacted by regulatory transitions,” the new report said.
China’s lead: Sales in China placed it in the top customer spot for wind turbines as new utility regulations to connect more renewables to the grid. China’s wind market yielded a 66% year-over-year increase in orders, while Europe sales dropped 55% in the first quarter.
The Danish company Vestas remains the top wind turbine manufacturer to fulfill these wind turbine orders, according to the report.
DEMOCRATIC ATTORNEYS GENERAL SAY TRUMP’S ORDER TO LIMIT STATE PIPELINE AUTHORITY IS ILLEGAL: A coalition of 16 Democratic state attorneys general is warning the Trump administration that the president’s recent executive order limiting state authority over oil and gas pipelines is illegal.
Trump signed an executive order April 10 designed to limit the instances in which blue states such as New York can reject pipeline projects using authority granted to states in Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. Section 401 allows states to deny permits if leaks from an energy infrastructure project could harm nearby streams or lakes.
In a comment letter, the Democratic attorneys general argue that any change to EPA’s “guidance and regulations” under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act would violate the law.
They say the law provides states the primary authority to protect water quality within their borders, allowing for “broad discretion” in making decisions over pipeline certifications.
“New York will always defend the right to ensure the people of our state have access to clean water, period,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS JOIN FORCES ON BILL TO BOOST COAL SLUDGE FOR STEEL: A bipartisan group of senators and congressmen introduced a bill Friday that would subsidize the use of coal sludge to produce steel.
The Steel Industry Preservation Act, introduced by lawmakers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, would institute a tax credit for 10 years for the coal sludge to be recycled for use in steel making.
Rep. Mike Doyle, a Democrat, introduced the bill with his Republican colleague in the Pennsylvania delegation, Mike Kelly.
Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V. and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio authored the Senate version.
The Rundown
New York Times Trump administration hardens its attack on climate science
Wall Street Journal Amid tensions, Iran’s crude buyers jump ship
Washington Post European Greens surge as voters abandon old parties over climate
Cincinnati Enquirer Energy overhaul: ‘Clean Air Program’ just for nuclear plants, not wind or solar
Reuters Brazil’s mangroves on the frontlines of climate change
Calendar
TUESDAY | May 28
Congress in recess
MONDAY | June 3
9 a.m., Omni Shoreham Hotel. The Nuclear Energy Institute holds the Nuclear Energy Assembly in Washington, June 3-5.
MONDAY | June 10
9 a.m., Philadelphia. The Edison Electric Institute, representing the investor-owned utility industry, holds its 2019 annual convention in Philadelphia, June 10-11.
TUESDAY | June 11
TBD, House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee holds a hearing with former EPA Administrators Lee Thomas, William Reilly, Christine Todd Whitman, and Gina McCarthy testifying.
