State Lawmakers, Like EPA, Seek To Repeal Emissions Standards
Federal and state lawmakers aim to reduce electricity costs by repealing emissions reduction ... More mandates.
Last week the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled the Trump administration's latest deregulatory action, is a proposal 'to repeal all 'greenhouse gas' emissions standards for the power sector under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and to repeal amendments to the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).' The EPA's June 10 statement went on to add that the mandates targeted for repeal 'imposed massive costs on coal-, oil-, and gas-fired power plants, raising the cost of living for American families, imperiling the reliability of our electric grid, and limiting American energy prosperity.'
'Affordable, reliable electricity is key to the American dream and a natural byproduct of national energy dominance,' said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. 'According to many, the primary purpose of these Biden-Harris administration regulations was to destroy industries that didn't align with their narrow-minded climate change zealotry. Together, these rules have been criticized as being designed to regulate coal, oil and gas out of existence.'
As the Trump EPA pursues those changes to federal emissions standards, Republicans who control the North Carolina General Assembly are taking a similar action at the state-level with legislation to repeal emissions mandates. On June 10, the same day EPA Administrator Zeldin announced the White House's latest deregulatory action, the North Carolina House voted to approve Senate Bill 266, legislation that repeals the statutory mandate that utility companies achieve a 70% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
As with the EPA's new proposal, the aim of SB 266 is energy cost mitigation. Supporters of SB 266, which passed the House with bipartisan support, point to estimates projecting that repeal of the emissions reduction target for 2030 will save North Carolina ratepayers $15 billion in avoided utility cost increases over the next 25 years.
'By repealing the interim 70% carbon reduction mandate by 2030, this legislation removes a key pressure point that would have shoehorned non-dispatchable resources like wind and solar onto North Carolina's grid—regardless of cost or reliability,' said Donald Bryson, CEO of the John Locke Foundation. 'This is a smart, bipartisan step that gives the Utilities Commission more flexibility to pursue a balanced energy mix that keeps power affordable and dependable for ratepayers and businesses alike.'
While SB 266 has a great deal of support from business community leaders and representatives, environmental advocacy groups and renewable energy industry lobbyists are fighting it. Shortly after SB 266 was introduced, Matt Abele with the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association spoke out against the bill, saying the proposal 'would hinder connecting more affordable resources to the grid in favor of technologies that pose a greater financial risk to ratepayers.'
The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show electricity prices are rising faster than overall inflation. In fact, over the past year the average price of electricity in the U.S. has grown 87% faster than the overall Consumer Price Index.
'On an annualized basis electricity price inflation rose 4.5% compared to 2.4% for the general price level,' the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition noted in a June 11 release. 'Monthly increases for electricity prices were significantly higher than other commodities coming in at 0.9% while commodities like food and shelter measured at 0.3% apiece, and gasoline prices dropped 2.6% on the month, marking a 12% decline over the last year.'
Rising utility costs drive up prices for all goods and services, which disproportionally squeezes the budgets of low- and middle-income households. Between that, the growing disadvantage the U.S. is at relative to China when it comes to the cost of energy, and the ramp up in energy demand driven by artificial intelligence, federal and state lawmakers' prioritization of reforms aiming to rein in energy costs and expand capacity is understandable, as is the bipartisan support.
SB 266 now goes back to the Senate for concurrence vote before heading to Governor Josh Stein's (D-N.C.) desk. Legislative leaders will need to first workout the differences between the House-passed SB 266 and the version of this proposal that the North Carolina Senate unanimously approved in March as part of different bill.
Governor Stein, who is nearly six months into his first term, has not indicated whether he would sign SB 266. What Stein thinks of the bill, however, might not matter. That's because a dozen House Democrats voted for the bill and only one of those 12 would need to join with Republicans to overturn a veto of SB 266 should that be necessary.
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