U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) recently led 25 Republicans in urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider its suite of rules for regulating greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants.
“We strongly urge you to reconsider these rules given their catastrophic impact on the PJM Interconnection service area,” wrote the lawmakers in a July 1 letter sent to EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
Specifically, the EPA’s rules in its so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0 will endanger electrical grid reliability for PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest regional transmission organization (RTO), serving 65 million people across Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
“The final rule targets coal and new natural gas-gas fired electric generation, exacerbating concerns with the reliability of the electric grid in PJM’s service area,” wrote Rep. Smucker and his colleagues, noting that the rules also will further jeopardize grid reliability across the nation.
The lawmakers also noted that the “EPA’s overreach and unworkable mandates” will create havoc in electricity markets, unreliability for distribution utilities, and economic hardship for businesses and families, according to their letter.
“The economic diversity of the PJM Interconnection and its importance to growing the economy of the 21st and 22nd centuries illustrate how crucial it is that we ensure and maintain the reliability of the electric grid,” they wrote. “More importantly, a failure to maintain grid reliability and ensure resource adequacy will have devastating impacts to the safety and security of our constituents and the American people.”
Among the signatories to the letter are U.S. Reps. Troy Balderson (R-OH), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Carol Miller (R-WV), Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA), Mike Carey (R-OH), Andy Barr (R-KY), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), John Joyce (R-PA), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Bob Latta (R-OH), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Mike Kelly (R-PA), and Michael Turner (R-OH).
“We request answers as to how your agency will ensure that residents and our constituents served by PJM do not lose access to reliable, affordable electricity,” they wrote, posing several questions, including that Regan explain how the final rule will impact grid reliability and stability.
The letter is supported by American Electric Power, the American Petroleum Institute, Duke Energy Corp., the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.