Ratepayer Protection Act passes House, moves to Senate

Members of the U.S. House this week approved the Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation co-authored by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) that promises to preserve lower energy rates by squelching controversial regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The bill, also authored by Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Collin Peterson (D-MN), passed by a vote of 247-180. It now moves to the Senate for further consideration.

At issue is the EPA’s attempt to set mandatory carbon dioxide goals for the electricity systems in each state, using a lesser-known provision of the Clean Air Act. By doing this, the EPA seeks to fundamentally change how electricity is generated, distributed and consumed in the United States.

Under the new plan, each state would be mandated to submit a comprehensive outline to the EPA in 2016 and begin meeting tiered goals in 2020, with a final goal being reached in 2030. Meeting these goals would result in significant costs by electricity providers. Some estimates show the costs could range from $366 billion to $479 billion between 2017 and 2031. These costs would be passed on to consumers via higher electricity rates.

The Ratepayer Protection Act would protect families and businesses from these rate increases. The legislation would allow for the completion of judicial review of any final rule before requiring states to comply, and states could not be forced to implement a state or federal plan if its governor finds a significant adverse effect on rates or reliability.

“EPA’s power grab is a bad deal for the American economy, businesses and ratepayers,” Whitfield, who chairs the Energy and Power Subcommittee, said. “The president’s own EPA estimates that its proposed rule would cost tens of billions of dollars and would be unworkable for many states. At a time when our economy is still recovering, regulations that will raise the price of energy, especially on the most vulnerable in this country, will be devastating. My legislation is simply a safeguard to protect ratepayers and electric reliability across the country… .” 

The Ratepayer Protection Act is supported by a long list of more than 200 municipal chambers of commerce and energy organizations nationwide.