Posts filed under Affordability

The Role of a Diverse Electricity Generation Portfolio

The Subcommittee on Energy and Power held a hearing yesterday in the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing was entitled, “American Energy Security and Innovation: The Role of a Diverse Electricity Generation Portfolio” and below are a few of the statements regarding the role of coal-based electricity presented during yesterday’s testimony:

Mark McCullough, Executive Vice President of Generation, AEP

“For over a century, AEP has been a pioneer in the development of advanced coal-fueled generation technologies, which include many first-in-the-world accomplishments that have set the standard for combustion efficiencies, emissions control, and system performance.”

John McClure, Vice President for Government Affairs and General Counsel, Nebraska Public Power District

“What many do not realize is coal remains a more competitively priced fuel for certain regions of the country due to the proximity of supply, especially in the central and western U.S. Natural gas may be a great option if your power plant is located near a robust network of gas pipelines, but unfortunately many of the existing coal plants do not have access to pipeline capacity to convert from coal to natural gas.

Coal has been a mainstay of our Nation’s generating mix, and the Energy Information Administration continues to show coal as an important part of a diverse fuel mix for the coming decades.”

Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-1)

“The EPA, without question, has established an unfortunate trend line, methodically establishing a regulatory framework to eliminate coal, and taking away diversity choices from utilities throughout the country.”

Rep. Steve Scalise (LA-1)

“The government is picking winners and losers and those that lose are the families that will pay higher electricity costs.”

06 March 2013, 10:28 am | Posted in Affordability, Reliability | 2 comments »

Rising Energy Costs Impact Fixed Incomes

In the current economy, many Americans are on tight budgets and can’t afford to spend more is on energy. Our recent study finds that more than half of U.S. households will spend an average 20 percent of their family budget on energy, nearly double what they spent 13 years ago.

Last year we spoke with the people of Red Springs, North Carolina to find out how rising energy costs would impact their daily lives. In North Carolina, the 2.1 million households earning less than $50,000 annually spend 23 percent of their income on energy.  To the people of Red Springs, any increase in electricity prices would make a huge difference to their already tight family budgets.

With heavy handed EPA regulations coming, American families are going to be paying higher electricity prices.  Hasty regulations will slow the recovery of our economy, hurt hardworking families and put thousands of jobs at risk.

Share the people of Red Spring’s story with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter.

26 February 2013, 10:02 am | Posted in Affordability, In the States | No comments »

EPA Regulations Threaten Arizona Economy

Last month we mentioned a story regarding the Navajo Generating Station that stated that EPA regulations that would require adding new emissions controls to the plant would cost $1.1 billion and would only marginally reduce the plants portion of haze in the area.

It was reported yesterday that Arizona’s economy could soon be feeling the effects of higher electricity rates under regulations recently announced by the EPA, a group of state lawmakers were told on Monday.

According to the White Mountain Independent, “In a rare joint committee hearing chaired by Senator Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), members of the SenateGovernment and Environment Committee and the House Energy, Environment, andNatural Resources Committee, chaired by Representative Frank Pratt (R-Casa Grande) heard testimony from state air quality regulators, utility officials, a hospital executive, union representative, and the Director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, all of whom agreed that new regulations announced by the EPA could have a significant, negative impact on Arizona’s economy and its ability to attract and create new jobs.”

“This is a non-partisan issue that has alarmed Republicans and Democrats alike,” Senator Griffin said. “Regardless of how one feels about the EPA, there is nothing logical about requiring Arizona residents to pay a billion dollars for regulations that make virtually no improvement in visibility and have nothing to do with public health.”

This is just further evidence that the EPA continues to ignore the damage that its new regulations are causing to the U.S. economy and to states that depend on coal for jobs and affordable electricity.

21 February 2013, 3:18 pm | Posted in Affordability | 2 comments »

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