Ceres Issues Air Emission Rankings of Largest U.S. Power Producers for 2016

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Jeff Bayne

Last week, Ceres, a nonprofit that advocates for sustainability by bringing together environmentalists and capitalists, released Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States.  The report evaluates and compares the emissions of the 100 largest power producers in the U.S., including investor-owned utilities, cooperatives, publicly-owned utilities, and Federal electric utilities.  It focuses on sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), mercury (Hg), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The report notes that although significant progress has been made in reducing SO2, NOx, and Hg emissions in the past decades, CO2 emissions were 14% higher in 2014 compared to 1990.  However, recently CO2 emissions have begun to fall, with 2014 emissions 12% below those in 2008.  The report details the substantial differences among the emissions performances (both emission levels and emission rates) among the different utilities, and it also provides a summary of CO2 emissions by state.  In 2014, Texas, Florida, and Indiana had the highest CO2 emissions, while Vermont, Idaho, and Maine had the lowest. 

The report places its analysis of emissions trends and rankings in the context of major structural transformations of the U.S. power sector. It emphasizes that the lack of new demand and the increasing output from renewable energy sources are leading to lower CO2 emissions, low wholesale electricity prices, and a decline in the use of coal as a source of electricity.

The report also identifies three key factors that will influence the transformation of the U.S. power sector going forward:

  • The potential technological development of cost-effective energy storage could address the current difficulty of replacing traditional baseload capacity with intermittent renewable resources such as wind and solar.
  • Changes to state policies will also be needed in order to integrate more distributed generation, such as rooftop solar.  The report notes that many states with net metering policies limit the amount of generating capacity for which customers may be credited on their retail bills, and several of these states have already, or have nearly, reached those caps.
  • Finally, federal regulations will continue to play a large role in reshaping the power sector.  In addition to the pending judicial review of the Clean Power Plan and New Sources Performance Standards, EPA is expected to act later this year on NOx and SO2 state emissions budgets under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and has also proposed updated revisions to the Regional Haze Rule.
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New York PSC Staff Proposes Nuclear Energy Subsidy

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Anjali Patel

On July 8, 2016 the New York Public Service Commission Staff (NYPSC) issued for public comment its “Responsive Proposal for Preserving Zero-Emission Attributes” in which Staff proposes to subsidize the zero emission attributes from nuclear facilities when there is a “public necessity to encourage their preservation.”  The NYPSC Staff issued its proposal in response to comments that the Commission received on the proposed component of the Clean Energy Standard to encourage the preservation of environmental values or attributes of zero-emissions nuclear-powered electric generating facilities.

The Zero-Emissions Credit (ZEC) program would be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).  Owners of qualifying facilities would enter into contracts with NYSERDA to produce ZECs and sell them to NYSERDA.  The ZEC value would be administratively set based on the U.S. Interagency Working Group’s projected social cost of carbon.  In turn, load serving entities would be responsible for purchasing ZECs from NYSERDA in proportion to their electric load compared to the total electric load served by all load serving entities in the New York Control Area.

The NYPSC will make the determination of whether there is a “public necessity;” however, Staff projects that there is a public necessity for subsidies for zero-emission attributes for the Fitzpatrick, Ginna, and Nine Mile facilities, and that there is no current public necessity for any other nuclear facility.

Comments on Staff’s proposal are due by July 18, 2016.

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Brattle Group Offers Guidance for States Looking to Canadian Clean Energy for CPP Compliance

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Amber Martin

States that may seek international assistance in achieving their CPP emission reduction targets can look to a June 2016 report prepared by the Brattle Group for ideas.  The report, Enabling Canadian Electricity Imports for Clean Power Plan Compliance, was prepared for the Canadian Electricity Association, Canadian Hydropower Association, Canadian Wind Energy Association, the governments of Canada and Québec, Emera Inc., Manitoba Hydro, Nalcor Energy, and Powerex Corporation, and offers technical guidance for states that may include clean energy imports from Canada as part of their CPP compliance plans.

According to the report, mass-based plans offer more flexibility than rate-based plans for incorporating clean energy imports from Canada for CPP compliance because imports only need to displace domestic fossil-based generation and associated carbon dioxide emissions in order to contribute to mass-based compliance.  In contrast, Brattle reports that in order to qualify under rate-based plans, Canadian imports will require states to set, and generators to meet, additional eligibility criteria, including demonstrating that the international generator is physically interconnected to the U.S. grid and has contracted to sell energy to a U.S. entity.  Accounting for these differences, Brattle offers targeted recommendations aimed at facilitating clean energy imports from Canada based on the type of compliance a state elects.  For states that choose to comply through mass-based plans, Brattle recommends states craft allowance set-asides that enable all zero-emission generation to participate, and minimize the potential for domestic and international emission leakage risks.  For rate-based plan states, Brattle suggests states accept a broad range of approaches to demonstrating physical interconnection and contracting requirements.

Regardless of whether states elect rate- or mass-based compliance, Brattle also provides a list of options for states seeking to enable clean Canadian imports as a means of complying with the CPP (if the CPP is ultimately upheld on judicial review) or to achieve other state clean energy goals, including:

  • Minimizing barriers for clean energy imports from Canada to participate under  Renewable Portfolio Standard programs and other state policy objectives;
  • Working with resource owners and system planners to develop the necessary transmission infrastructure to facilitate clean energy imports; and
  • Structuring competitive solicitations for clean energy resources to enable all types of resources to be developed.
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Modeling the CPP and Post-2030 Possibilities

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Jessica Bell

Georgia Tech recently released a working paper entitled The Clean Power Plan and Beyond. With a particular eye toward impacts in the South, the study uses Georgia Tech’s version of the National Energy Modeling System to look at four compliance scenarios, including a case where the South adopts rate-based goals and the rest of the states adopt mass-based goals, and an extension of the CPP time horizon.  Among the results, the study finds that using more aggressive assumptions about energy efficiency and solar generation could keep electricity bills relatively low, as well as provide additional collateral benefits, such as greater GDP growth.  And with the knowledge that additional CO2 emission reductions will be required through 2040, more coal would be retired and more renewable capacity would be added in the near term.

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Last Day for Petitions for Review of EPA’s Denial of Reconsideration of NSPS

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Jeff Bayne

July 5, 2016 marks the last day for petitions for judicial review of EPA’s decision to deny reconsideration of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for CO2 emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed power plants.  Last month, the D.C. Circuit granted a motion to suspend the briefing schedule in North Dakota v. EPA, which is a petition for review of the NSPS itself, in order to allow time to file for review of the related issue of EPA’s denial of reconsideration.

Although judicial review of EPA’s denial of petitions for reconsideration of the NSPS is procedurally distinct from review of the actual NSPS final rule, many of the substantive arguments regarding EPA’s denial of reconsideration and the final rule overlap. In fact, in their motion to suspend the briefing schedule in North Dakota v. EPA, the petitioners and petitioner-intervenors indicated that they intend to file a motion to consolidate petitions for review of EPA’s denial of reconsideration with the consolidated cases already pending in North Dakota v. EPA.  The D.C. Circuit has ordered that motions to consolidate be filed by July 12, 2016.

Last week, Murray Energy Corporation filed a petition for review of EPA’s denial of reconsideration. This post will be updated after all such petitions have been filed.

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