Jeri Matheney, Communications
Director for Appalachian Power, said the proposal will make building a new
coal-fired plant difficult. “It really effectively eliminates coal as an
option for a new power plant because the emission limit is so much lower than
any existing coal-fueled generating technologies can achieve,” she said.
Critics have claimed the federal
government has unfairly targeted coal with the regulations.
But Ted Boettner, executive
director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said the coal industry’s
problems in the Mountain
State
“If the EPA just dismantled and
shut down today, we’re still going to have a declining structure for coal in West Virginia
The proposed limits, which were
released Friday, would restrict emissions from the coal-fired power plants of
the future to 1,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hour. There is an option
to average emissions over multiple years. New plants, though, would have
to rely on still-developing carbon capture technology to meet the requirements.
Natural gas-fired power plants
would be limited to 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt hour.
Boettner said it’s natural gas that
is causing coal’s problems, not the EPA. “Cheap and abundant gas is the
central reason,” he said. “So, if you really want to get coal going, you
need to start banning fracking in other states. That would be the logical
solution if you really wanted to up coal.”
Matheney said Appalachian Power’s
projections indicate natural gas prices will remain relatively stable for the
next ten years, so the company is in the process of converting a Virginia
“If we were to build a new plant
now, it would be a gas plant and that’s for economic reasons,” she said.
“Gas plants, right now, are less expensive to build and to operate.”
Currently, Matheney said coal
accounts for 74 percent of Appalachian’s fuel. By 2015, the coal
contribution could drop to 69 percent. She said the company needs
flexibility to go with the fuels that are the most cost effective at any given
time.
“We need to be able to choose the
right power plant at the time we’re building. This takes away that
flexibility,” she said of the EPA’s proposals.
The agency has called the plan a
first milestone in President Barack Obama’s “Power Sector Carbon Pollution
Standards.”
“By taking common sense action to
limit carbon pollution from new power plants, we can slow the effects of
climate change and fulfill our obligation to ensure a safe and healthy
environment for our children,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy of the new
proposed limits.
Proposed emissions limits for
existing coal-fired power plants are scheduled to be released by next
June. “We’re hopeful that those rules are more flexible so we can
continue operating our plants,” said Matheney.
Regardless, Boettner said the state
needs to prepare for a future with less coal.
“Since many of the state leaders
have put all their energy into denouncing the EPA instead of a workable,
positive solution for the state, the problem is it very well could be a
hard landing for many working families, especially those in the Southern
Coalfields,” he said. “I think that would be a tragedy.”
The EPA will take comments on the
proposal for new coal-fired power plants for the next 60 days.
Comments on the proposed Carbon
Pollution Standards for New Power Plants must reference Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0495
and can be submitted in one of the following ways:
- www.regulations.gov:
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
- E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic
mail (e-mail) to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov.
- Fax: Fax your comments to: 202-566-9744.
- Mail: Send your comments to: Air and
Radiation Docket and Information Center, Environmental Protection Agency,
Mail Code: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 20460.
