More than four out of five U.S. states are preparing to implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, even with Congressional Republicans vowing to kill the regulations this summer and several states fighting the carbon reduction initiative in court.
“By our estimate, 41 of the 50 states are looking at multi-state collaboration while they also consider implementing as single states,” said Frank Litz of the Great Plains Institute. A 36-page report by Litz and Jennifer Macedonia of the Bipartisan Policy Center “details how states can form what the EPA calls 111(d) plans—essentially the document that will guide them toward meeting EPA goals,” Midwest Energy News reports.
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Even states that are fighting to kill the Clean Power Plan “are thinking of how to best implement it,” Litz told MWEN. “They don’t have the luxury of saying no because that would mean the EPA would be stepping in and doing the regulation for them. And that’s not a great solution for them or their stakeholders.”
Analysis by the EPA and some regional transmission organizations is pointing toward multi-state 111(d) plans as the most effective way to comply with the Clean Power Plan, Litz added. Trading carbon allowances across state borders “enhances flexibility without requiring a whole lot of coordination among states, or even a formal agreement,” he said. “Allowing power plant owners the flexibility to seek lower-cost reductions in another state is an attractive option.”
