Today, FERC Commissioners and Norman Bay, who has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as a FERC Commissioner, will testify before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power regarding the potential impact of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) proposed rulemaking establishing carbon emissions guidelines for stationary generation sources. EPA’s proposed rule is specifically designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units.
On June 18, 2014, EPA first published notice of its proposed rule—Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units, 40 C.F.R. Part 60 —in the Federal Register. EPA, invoking its authority under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, proposed to establish “state-specific rate-based goals for carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power sector,” and provide “guidelines for states to follow in developing plans to achieve the state-specific goals.”
The Subcommittee’s preliminary questions to the Commissioners touch on the following four areas relating to the impact of EPA’s proposed rule:
- the coordination among various federal agencies and between state and federal governments;
- the implications for generator fuel diversity and electric reliability;
- the impact on electricity markets; and
- the effect of increased reliance on natural gas, renewable generation resources, and energy efficiency.
Links to the hearing notice and the Subcommittee’s questions for the FERC Commissioners can be found here. Copies of the Commissioners’ testimony, and that of Norman Bay, can be found here.