“Just the possibility that EPA will enact such sweeping regulations will slow investment in new power generation that all U.S. power grids need. Recent grid warnings about possible outages this summer will likely continue into the winter while potential new-generation projects proceed cautiously.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed new greenhouse gas standards for fossil-fuel-fired power plants. These draconian regulations, part of the Biden Administration’s “all of government” climate policy—which is at odds with affordable, reliable energy—threaten the stability of the U.S. power grid.
The EPA plan is the “nuclear option” of regulations because the agency is not just proposing new regulations designed to meet more stringent clean air standards with fines if the criteria are not met. Instead, EPA seeks to impose unachievable CO2 emissions targets that will shut down existing coal and natural gas power plants and threaten the viability of the nation’s power grids.…
“Much of the generation named by ERCOT as qualified under their latest RFP is generation units that were recently retired, many because they could not compete with the artificially low prices that heavily subsidized wind and solar can offer, so they are still operational.”
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the planning agency for 90% of the state’s grid, has a wind/solar tiger by the tail. As the agency does not exchange power with its out-of-state neighbors to avoid federal (FERC) jurisdiction, it is looking at home for able, firm generation that wind and solar unfairly (via government intervention) put out of operation.
Background
ERCOT is (in)famous because its grid almost collapsed during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. The Texas electricity grid had lost so many generators due to the storm that it was only 4 minutes and 37 seconds from collapsing, which would have required a restart from a “black start.”…
“According to Reuters, China is justified in burning massive amounts of coal because it uses some of that electricity to charge EVs, enabling it to reduce its crude oil imports, which is even more evil than coal. The world, in other words, can continue to ignore the fact that China and the other countries in Asia emit more CO2 than the rest of the world combined.”
We are constantly told that burning coal must be eliminated because it contributes to climate change. Coal is so bad that the EPA has proposed rules that will force the closure of all U.S. coal-burning power plants, as well as natural gas generators by 2040, if not sooner. U.S. power grids are showing the effects of the early retirement of coal power generation plants, meanwhile, and grid operators are demanding that the EPA stop their proposed regulations.…