Benefits of Power Plant Rule Outweigh Costs, EPA Tells Lawmakers

EPA Administrator Michael Regan tried to assure lawmakers on Wednesday that the benefits of the agency’s pending greenhouse gas rule for power plants will far outweigh the costs.

Some of those benefits include economic growth and improvements in public health, lost work days, and lost school days, Regan told the House Energy and Commerce’s Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee.

The proposal is expected to require new and existing power plants to capture nearly all their carbon emissions by 2040.

Regan also said the rule is being developed in concert with the Environmental Protection Agency’s tailpipe emissions rule, which could require two-thirds of all new vehicles to be electric by 2032.

Power plant operators are “really looking forward to these new customers being on the market,” Regan said, referring to electric vehicle owners.

He also said the rule will give the power sector flexibility in meeting the emissions limit, by using technologies such as carbon capture and battery storage, and that utility CEOs have asked for regulatory certainty.

But Regan’s remarks didn’t appear to assuage Republicans on the panel.

Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) said the EPA “appears to be pursuing a strategy to send as many signals as possible that future costs are going to increase,” leading power plant owners and investors to permanently shut down generation.

Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), chair of the subcommittee, asked Regan to give the public more than 60 days to review and comment on the proposal, which Regan said he would “consider.”

But he also told Rep. Ross Fulcher (R-Idaho) that the EPA has “a pretty standard recipe for extensions,” and typically grants them if certain criteria are met.

Most comment periods last for 60 days, but agencies have the authority to extend them.

Electric Vehicle Debate

At another point in the hearing, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the full committee, grilled Regan on the tailpipe proposal.

The average electric vehicle costs about $17,000 more than an internal combustion car, McMorris Rodgers said, and the raw materials to build one electric vehicle could be used to build 90 hybrid cars.

In response, Regan said the proposal doesn’t confront consumers with a “dire choice,” in part because it also promotes biofuels.

He also conceded that the current electric grid may not be able to power a massive uptake in electric vehicles, but that the agency’s modeling anticipates a higher penetration rate by 2032.

President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget asks for $12 billion for the EPA, a 19% increase over its current enacted level and a record high amount that’s almost certain to be trimmed during congressional negotiations. The request would fund the hiring of 1,960 new employees.

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) applauded the funding request, drawing particular attention to a line item for hiring 3,354 more enforcement staff.

The EPA’s current enacted budget of $10.1 billion is its highest since 2010. Congress pulled that figure back from Biden’s $11.9 billion request.