POWER PLAN HUB
Pruitt dodges on health impacts of killing carbon rule
You can't blame "Fox News Sunday" moderator Chris Wallace for trying.
You can't blame "Fox News Sunday" moderator Chris Wallace for trying.
President Trump yesterday issued an executive order to begin the process to roll back U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt over the weekend confirmed executive action against the Clean Power Plan will likely begin this week.
If there's an enduring upside to U.S. EPA's doomed Clean Power Plan, it's that it spurred some much-needed discussions about energy on the state level, says Brian Murray, director for economic analysis at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.
U.S. EPA's role in regulating carbon emissions will be on the agenda when state utility regulators meet this week in Washington, although it won't be as prominent an issue as in recent years.
Reality may be sinking in on Capitol Hill and around Washington that action to thwart the Clean Power Plan could take longer than opponents hoped.
A cottage industry that grew up around U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan now must rethink how to be useful to states and companies still looking to cut power-sector carbon emissions.
President Trump officially entered office Friday, erasing mentions of climate change from the White House website and replacing them with vows to increase fossil fuel development.
Expect some hyperpartisan questioning for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt (R) from members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow, as senators meet to consider Pruitt's nomination for U.S. EPA administrator.
The federal government's latest energy projections are out, and they underscore just how much could change in the power sector under President-elect Donald Trump.
States divided over U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan are sparring about how easy it will be for President-elect Donald Trump to rescind the power-sector climate regulation.
Climate advocates hope states and businesses will step up as Republicans in Washington reverse work to erase greenhouse gas emissions reductions. But a new analysis by the Brookings Institution demonstrates just how far apart the states are on decarbonizing.
The 2017 outlook is stable for North American energy infrastructure, Fitch Ratings said Friday, although it warned that the potential demise of U.S. EPA's flagship Clean Power Plan "could create some interesting ripples for the sector in the coming months."
State lawmakers meet for an annual summit and congressional Lobby Day this week where they will explore what the outcome of the elections means for state-federal issues.
Conservative state lawmakers who are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council meet this week in Washington to review what they see as a much more favorable landscape for energy policy under President-elect Donald Trump.
A nuclear power trade group is hoping the industry's outlook could improve under President-elect Donald Trump's administration.
President-elect Donald Trump's plans to deconstruct U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan has some states that were still planning for the rule re-evaluating that choice.
Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump couldn't have more opposing views on what to do with the Obama administration's climate standards for power plants.
Hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign are offering glimpses of how she might handle inheriting federal climate regulations for power plants.
A regional approach based on a trading system and a price on carbon would be the most affordable way to meet the goals of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan should it survive legal challenge, said Nick Brown, president and CEO of the Southwest Power Pool.
Opponents of the Obama administration's power-sector climate rules last week filed their first briefs against a regulation for new plants, arguing that it should fall and take the Clean Power Plan down with it.
Should a federal court vacate U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan or severely restrict the agency's authority under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, there are options for the next administration if it wants to pursue cutting greenhouse gases, says a new report.
Followers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit were hard-pressed to recall an oral argument that lasted as long or attracted as large a crowd as last week's session over the legality of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
Tomorrow is the long-awaited oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on the legality of U.S. EPA's sweeping rule to control carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector.
Lawyers challenging U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan in oral arguments before federal judges next Tuesday are spending this week sharpening their talking points in moot courts.
Clean Power Plan events are picking up this week as energy insiders look ahead to oral arguments in two weeks on the legal challenges to the rule.
A successful redesign of the nation's organized electricity markets that helps preserve the U.S. nuclear generation fleet might be easier to accomplish if reforms also include coal-fired plants, according to FTI Consulting Managing Director Ken Ditzel.
CHICAGO — Although leaders in many states have frozen planning around U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, which is held up in court, officials should continue grappling with complex energy issues that could affect compliance, a panel of grid experts told a meeting of state lawmakers last week.
CHICAGO — State lawmakers at their annual summit here are tackling how to support evolving energy business models and prioritize different types of power based on affordability, reliability and environmental benefits.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — an emissions trading program in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic — will be the key to the region meeting the goals of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, according to a report by the Acadia Center, a clean energy research group based in the Northeast.
NASHVILLE — State electric regulators holding their summer meeting in Tennessee this week will wrestle with how to design power bills to fairly consider the benefits and costs of rooftop solar.
Donald Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, since at least 2000 has been railing against the proposition that greenhouse gas emissions are changing the Earth's climate. And the Republican governor repeatedly told Indiana media in the past year that he would defy U.S. EPA's carbon rule even if it is upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. But that rhetoric was not in sync with what his administration actually was doing.
Electric utilities have not stopped working through scenarios for complying with U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan should it survive legal challenges, in the view of Michael Tubman, director of outreach at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
The leader of the nation's association for state utility regulators last week said U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan could forever alter his job description — and he's not happy with the idea.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is charging that opponents of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan are running a well-oiled "propaganda machine," supported by some of the biggest polluters in the country.
Environmental advocates pushing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to strengthen its carbon limits say recent modeling on the Northeast cap-and-trade program backs up their arguments.
As more and more updated modeling shows the United States is on track to meet U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan standards through the mid-2020s, the Natural Resources Defense Council is planning to conduct a macroeconomic analysis on how the rule would affect certain states.
Great Plains Energy Inc.'s announcement last week that it intends to buy Westar Energy Inc. contained a rationale that may become more common to the utility mergers and acquisitions landscape.
While many state agencies have stopped or slowed consideration of options for complying with U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, officials are still talking privately with stakeholders and at conferences and multistate meetings coordinated by nongovernmental organizations.
Regardless of whether U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan survives legal challenge, the nation's power generation mix is adding a large amount of renewable resources, according to the electric industry's grid watchdog.
The Electric Power Research Institute is doing preliminary modeling on how states that pick different kinds of carbon-trading systems under the Clean Power Plan might be able to link those systems.
John Hewa, chief executive officer of Pedernales Electric Cooperative, believes that implementing time-of-use rates for his members could help compliance with U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
While some states are openly moving forward with preparations for the Clean Power Plan, others are resorting to less-formal stakeholder conversations, especially in the face of potential spending or planning restrictions from legislatures.
Air regulators from 18 states will gather in Columbia, S.C., later this week, and U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan will be a central topic.
The Clean and Safe Energy Coalition last week unveiled an interactive map that explores the value or potential of nuclear energy in helping a state meet U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan goals.
To a group of former state regulators supporting U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, opponents of the rule who argue it's a burden to continue planning for carbon reductions are being "hyperbolic."
Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's is "in a position now where we have to analyze the credit impacts" of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan on investor-owned utilities and independent power producers, according to Michael Ferguson, a director with S&P's U.S. Energy Infrastructure Group.
A veteran Justice Department environmental attorney now in private practice representing opponents of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan believes that no matter which way courts rule, there will be a "clamor" from industry for Congress to pass more limited legislation to address greenhouse gases, such as a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade program.
The longtime Washington chief of the association of state and local air pollution agencies has a bold prediction as to what will happen should U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan ultimately be vacated.
Arkansas last week became the 19th state to halt planning activities related to potential compliance with U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan (ClimateWire, March 10).
E&E's Power Plan Hub has added a useful "States at a Glance" tab on the home page for a quick summary of all the states' statuses with regard to legal action and compliance activity.
E&E staff continue to track the wide range of state responses to the Supreme Court's decision to stop implementation of the Clean Power Plan. Check out the most recent updates:
At least 18 states have suspended their planning work for U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, while nine are still assessing options and 20 are continuing toward compliance, according to a canvass of state regulators by a team of E&E reporters.
The nation's utility regulators gather in Washington, D.C., this week for their annual winter meetings. While there is only one session over five days devoted to U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, what the Supreme Court's stay of the rule means for states is sure to dominate discussions on the sidelines.
An unprecedented Supreme Court decision to halt U.S. EPA's greenhouse gas rules for power plants shocked onlookers last night and left states wondering how to react.
The first 2016 meeting of the "3N" members occurs Thursday and Friday in Washington, D.C., at the conclusion of the National Association of State Energy Officials' three-day Energy Policy Outlook Conference.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative meets tomorrow to discuss how the nine Northeastern member states can use the cap-and-trade program to meet the goals of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
As a lower court rejected requests to halt the Clean Power Plan last week, U.S. EPA accepted thousands of comments on its model carbon trading rules and federal backup plan for states that don't comply.
Comments are due Thursday on U.S. EPA's model carbon trading rules and proposed federal version of the Clean Power Plan that will be imposed on states that don't comply.
As most states look to use some form of carbon trading to comply with Clean Power Plan goals, U.S. EPA will hold an "Emissions Trading 101" webinar today.
States that are part of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator and the PJM Interconnection will hold separate meetings within the next six weeks to discuss the Clean Power Plan, according to Doug Scott, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Great Plains Institute.
In Minneapolis last Thursday, the Center for Energy and Environment offered cocktails and haiku readings by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Assistant Commissioner David Thornton as primer to a discussion about the role of early-action credits and efficiency programs in meeting the requirements of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
International negotiators over the weekend finalized a landmark agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
U.S. EPA chief Gina McCarthy takes her campaign for the Clean Power Plan to Paris this week, promoting the agency's ability to achieve greenhouse gas reductions through the rule in speeches and panel discussions at the U.N. climate conference.
Two weeks of U.N. negotiations to curb greenhouse gas emissions and help poor countries deal with climate change begin today in Paris.
Congress is in recess for the Thanksgiving holiday this week so there will be a hiatus in hearings about the Clean Power Plan and the Obama administration's ambitions for international climate talks in Paris that begin next month.
Stakeholders in Iowa meet today to further discuss U.S. EPA's rule and hear from officials from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator and the Southwest Power Pool. Here's the agenda.
State electric regulators meet in Austin this week for the first time since the final Clean Power Plan came out in August.
The White House Summit on Nuclear Energy on Friday will address U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
Senior U.S. EPA officials will leave the nation's capital this week to make the case for the agency's rule to curb carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The epic battle over the Obama administration's signature climate change initiative kicks off tomorrow when it will be published in the Federal Register.
Starting today, Infocast will hold its second annual Clean Power Plan Implementation Summit. The first day focuses on using natural gas to comply with the rule. Tomorrow's and Wednesday's sessions kick off with remarks from U.S. EPA Associate Assistant Administrator and Senior Counsel Joe Goffman before delving into legal issues, carbon-cutting options and power system considerations. A variety of state environment and energy officials, as well as electric regulators, will speak. Panelists also include utility and grid organization leaders, consultants, and environmental advocates. ClimateWire's Elizabeth Harball will be there.
Regional coalitions of states that are exploring Clean Power Plan options are focusing heavily on whether carbon trading might help them meet their goals.
Arkansas, Georgia and Minnesota are among the states that this week will begin stakeholder meetings on the Clean Power Plan.
States around the country are buckling down to explore Clean Power Plan compliance options, even while some of them plan lawsuits against U.S. EPA.
Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection has begun its series of 14 "listening sessions" across the state on the Clean Power Plan and compliance issues. E&E reporter Elizabeth Harball will be in Pittsburgh today for that session.
As reticent states weigh whether to write compliance plans or challenge U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan in court, E&E staff have been updating the Power Plan Hub with interviews with regulators, agency officials and environment and business interests.
States supporting and opposing the Clean Power Plan may end up challenging the rule in court while simultaneously working on plans to comply.
While the Clean Power Plan is final, states and energy companies have one last shot to urge U.S. EPA to make big or small changes to the rule.
A federal court bid last week by 15 states to block U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan offered few new arguments but illuminated a key legal strategy: retaining the same three Republican-appointed judges who considered an earlier, premature challenge to the regulation.
Dozens of reporters have been working to update E&E's Power Plan Hub since U.S. EPA released the final rule Monday.
The Obama administration will unveil final rules for existing, new and modified power plants at a ceremony at the White House at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow.
A team of more than 20 E&E Publishing reporters will deploy to cover the release of the U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, expected as soon as next week.
Hundreds of pages of records obtained by Greenwire under the Freedom of Information Act detail who U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy was talking to in the runup to the Clean Power Plan announcement last year. The documents provide a window into EPA's internal process for drafting the rule last year and could provide clues on who the agency is consulting now before it finalizes the proposal in the coming weeks.
State electricity regulators are gathering in New York this week for their summer meetings, and, as might be expected, aspects of how U.S. EPA's forthcoming Clean Power Plan might affect their jobs are a prominent focus of discussions.
U.S. EPA chief Gina McCarthy heads to Capitol Hill on Thursday to get grilled by Republicans on the House Science Committee about the agency's "regulatory overreach," following a Supreme Court decision last week that EPA's mercury rules for power plants should have considered industry costs.
Congress has left town for the Independence Day recess after the House last week easily passed legislation to thwart U.S. EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan.
Today, E&E Publishing is adding a robust section to the Power Plan Hub, a curated, singular place for resources that assist stakeholders wrestling with compliance issues associated with U.S. EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should play a "proactive" role in helping states and regions respond to challenges posed by compliance with the forthcoming final version of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, Colette Honorable, FERC's newest member, said in a Friday interview.
With the Clean Power Plan under final review at the White House, electric industry conferences this week will focus on how states can implement the draft rule without jeopardizing electric reliability.
Midwestern officials who have a stake in U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan are gathering in Detroit on Friday to explore implementation options for the proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
In a big news week for the Clean Power Plan, the National Association of Clean Air Agencies released its "menu of options" for states weighing carbon-cutting strategies, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration came out with an analysis that shows coal retirements could more than double if the draft rule is implemented.
While Republicans in Congress say states should refuse to write plans for U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, state officials are nonetheless gathering in regional groups around the country to explore carbon-cutting options.
Time is running short for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to weigh in on how to address reliability concerns arising from state compliance with U.S. EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan, although the industry seems to be coalescing around tools that might be needed.
While the electric industry awaits the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's contribution on how to ensure against power outages under the Clean Power Plan, a U.S. EPA spokeswoman said Friday that the two agencies have already been in "ongoing discussions" following a series of FERC technical conferences.
U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan will be front and center as state air pollution agency chiefs gather in Providence, R.I., until Wednesday for their spring meeting.
Federal judges wasted no time last week showing their skepticism about the first court challenge to U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan, which seeks to block the draft rule before it's finalized.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear arguments Thursday morning in two cases brought by 15 states and energy companies seeking to block U.S. EPA from finalizing its greenhouse gas standards for power plants.
The hints just keep on coming.
Regional grid organizations, state officials and utilities of all sizes will tell federal regulators this week that the diverse mix of power resources and stakeholders in the central U.S. region demands special attention to ensure states collaborate on the Clean Power Plan.
Executives of the nation's largest electric utilities are optimistic that the final Clean Power Plan will give states more time to start reducing carbon emissions, following a meeting with U.S. EPA officials last week.
Conservative lawmakers in the Southeast and Midwest are redoubling their efforts to enact legislation that would give legislatures the final word on any plan to comply with U.S. EPA's proposed rule to cut carbon emissions from power plants.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold another technical conference on the effects of U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan — this time focusing on the electricity grid in Eastern states in an all-day discussion Wednesday.
Electric power interests in Illinois and Virginia are citing U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan as the chief reason behind their desire to change state law in their favor.
State officials and reliability experts spent last week huddling over how to respond to U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan in daylong meetings of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The nation's capital will be ground zero in the coming days as far as U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan is concerned.
Welcome to the E&E Power Plan Hub, an interactive resource designed to keep you up to date on the latest national and state-level developments stemming from U.S. EPA's greenhouse gas regulations for the power sector.
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