NERC Analyses of the Proposed Clean Power Plan

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Jessica Bell

In the final Clean Power Plan, EPA was critical of North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) analyses of its proposed rule, stating that NERC “assumes considerably less flexibility than actually is provided to states and EGUs” in the final rule and that there are “real world solutions to NERC’s concerns.” It will be interesting to see NERC’s analysis of the final rule, which is expected by the second quarter of 2016.

In NERC’s initial review of the proposal in November 2014, it looked at the four assumptions in EPA’s proposed building blocks and identified a list of items requiring additional reliability consideration. NERC’s broad recommendations were that it should continue its assessment of potential reliability impacts, coordinated planning and analysis should immediately begin evaluations, and EPA should consider timing issues that address reliability concerns and infrastructure deployments.

In its April 2015 Phase I review, NERC’s key findings included that the Clean Power Plan is expected to fundamentally change electricity generation mix in the U.S., industry needs more time to address shifts in generation and accompanying transmission issues, coal use may change from baseload to seasonal peaking, and the shift of energy and capacity to gas-fired generation will require additional infrastructure.

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Navigating the Rules

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Jessica Bell

UPDATED 01.05.2016 Links to the final CPP and NSPS and the proposed FIP are available here.

The shortest rule that EPA released in pre-publication version on August 3 is over 700 pages long.  To help you navigate the documents, we put together annotated tables of contents for the rules that include page numbers.

 Rule Annotated Table of Contents
 Clean Power Plan  CPP table of contents
 New Source Performance Standards  NSPS table of contents
 Proposed FIP & Model Rule  FIP table of contents

 

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The Race to the Courthouse Begins: Fifteen States Seek an Emergency Stay of Clean Power Plan

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Jessica Bell

On August 13, fifteen states filed a petition for an emergency stay of the Clean Power Plan’s deadlines in the D.C. Circuit. The State Petitioners argue that the September 6, 2016 and September 6, 2018 submission dates will cause irreparable harm through “the displacement of sovereign priorities and the steps [states] must take to begin reordering the way their citizens receive and consume energy.” Although the rule has not yet been published in the Federal Register, the State Petitioners allege that waiting for publication could delay relief too far into the period for preparing the September 2016 submission. The State Petitioners request a stay by September 8, 2015.

Because court rules ordinarily require a party seeking a stay to first ask the agency for such relief, the State Petitioners asked EPA for a stay on August 5 and requested relief by August 7. EPA issued no formal action on this request, but in their petition, the states inform the Court that the EPA told them it would not grant relief by their deadline.  The standards for granting a stay pending judicial review are stringent. We will likely see an answer from EPA.

On the other side, 9 states, plus the District of Columbia and New York City, wrote a letter to Administrator McCarthy voicing strong support for the final rules for new and existing power plants. Joined by 6 additional states, this coalition issued a joint statement criticizing the state plaintiffs seeking an emergency stay and pledging to formally oppose requests to stay the final rule, if and when they are timely filed after the rule is published in the Federal Register:

“West Virginia and other states have filed a request to stay the Clean Power Plan, a new federal rule that will protect Americans from the harmful impacts of climate change on our economies, environment, and public health. Like West Virginia’s challenge to the proposed rule, which was dismissed by the courts, this filing is premature. If and when requests to stay the final rule are timely filed, after the rule has been published in the Federal Register, our coalition will formally oppose them.”

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Welcome to Considering the Grid!

Posted on August 19, 2015 by SpiegelBlog

Looking for a challenge? Try finding a news source that has not covered EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Proposed in June 2014 and released in final form on August 3, 2015 (Federal Register publication is pending), the Clean Power Plan currently dominates popular and trade press, and with good reason. The Clean Power Plan is likely to have widespread impacts on the energy sector and beyond.

Although there is a lot of information published about the Clean Power Plan, it can be difficult to sift out factual information and useful analyses. Considering the Grid strives to provide regulators, consumer advocates, public power entities, and others interested in the plan with a collection of resources and status updates to help stay current with related developments. Whether your voice is one of support or dissent (or somewhere in between), Considering the Grid offers you a portal to information about the Clean Power Plan, including associated litigation and resources, reports and analyses about the rule.

This blog is maintained by attorneys from Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP (Spiegel). Established in 1967, Spiegel represents the public side of critical infrastructure industries, including energy. We recognize that environmental regulations such as the Clean Power Plan have the potential to significantly affect many facets of the energy sphere—including organized markets, generators, regulators, load-serving entities, and consumers—and that all stakeholders, regardless of size of their resources, are seeking quality information in order to understand the rule, perhaps with a view to participating in the federal or state arenas. This blog will compile available resources and provide updates about significant steps in the ongoing implementation process.

Spiegel’s high level summary of the Clean Power Plan, EPA’s proposed federal plan and model trading rules, and the new source performance standards for new, modified, and reconstructed power plants, provides a high level overview of these rulemakings.

Sign up to receive emails to have new posts delivered to you automatically.  Contact information for each post author is provided if you have any questions or comments.  Please remember that the information on this website is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.  By using this blog or contacting the authors, you are not creating an attorney–client relationship between you and Spiegel.  This blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney in your state.  Please see full disclaimer.

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