Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) recently asked the Environmental Protection Agency to explain why it has proposed a rule change that could cost one coal-fired power plant hundreds of millions of dollars.
Whitfield, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, announced on Tuesday that his subcommittee requested an explanation from the EPA regarding a change that would require Arizona’s Navajo Generating Station to install Selective Catalytic Reduction Technology.
The change will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to implement without any conclusive evidence of whether doing so would be effective in achieving the EPA’s desired result.
“The best way to deal with the electricity challenges of today and tomorrow is to expand the options available, not to reduce them,” Whitfield said. “That is why I believe that EPA’s regulatory assault on coal here in Kentucky and across the country is bad policy. Coal is the leading source of electricity generation in the U.S., and it certainly remains the fastest-growing source of energy for China and many of our other global competitors.”
NGS is the largest coal-fired power plant in the western United States in terms of generating capacity. It powers the Central Arizona Project that delivers 1.5 million acre-feet per year of the Colorado River water from western Arizona to agriculture users in central Arizona, Indian tribes located in Arizona and municipal water users in several counties.
Kayenta Mine supplies the coal used by NGS. The mine and NGS collectively employ hundreds of workers.
Whitfield said the EPA is proposing the change to improve visibility at national parks in Arizona and nearby areas.