By Jason Plautz,

Energy Wire 

A new rule proposed last month by EPA could spell the end of coal-fired power plants as they currently exist.

But not if some states have their way.

As utilities transition from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas and renewable energy, legislatures in some legacy coal states have stepped into the fray. Utah and Kentucky passed laws this year to make it harder for state regulators to approve utility plans retiring coal plants. In West Virginia, a new law will require the state to sign off before a utility can retire a coal or gas plant. Wyoming has enacted mandates in recent years to push utilities to explore selling coal plants or installing carbon capture technology before shutting them.

Montana, meanwhile, passed a sweeping law that bars climate analyses for new power plants.

Legal experts question whether the states’ efforts will make much of a dent in EPA’s work to clean up the power sector, which accounts for a quarter of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. But they could set the groundwork for some operators to push forward on novel carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology that may keep power plants open and in compliance with federal regulations. Or they could preview the intense political and legal fights to come.

“A lot of states are making clear that the carbon rule and the other environmental rules are going to wreak havoc,” said Michelle Bloodworth, CEO of the pro-coal trade group America’s Power. “States with a lot of generation are sounding huge alarms and warnings, and that’s why they’re passing legislation and are going to get involved in litigation.”

In Utah, Republican majorities in the state Legislature passed a law known as the Energy Security Amendments — H.B. 425 — this spring to dictate the state’s responsibility to ensure citizens have affordable and reliable power generation. If any power-generating source is forced to retire early because of federal mandates, the law also authorizes the state attorney general to use taxpayer dollars to defend it in court.

The law applies to any energy source, not just coal. But sponsors have tied its goals to the Intermountain Power Project, the state’s largest coal plant, which is set to retire in 2025. Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory (R), the law’s sponsor, told E&E News the goal is to “keep the lights on, keep people safe and healthy and keep the economy moving” in a rapidly changing electricity sector.

EPA’s proposed power plant rule seeks to slash emissions from new and existing coal- and gas-fired power plants, pushing owners to either close them or outfit them with carbon capture technology or clean hydrogen fuel. The requirements change depending on the plant’s use and technology, but the largest plants would have to either close or capture emissions by 2040.

Under the proposal — which could change before it is finalized — states would have to craft compliance plans to be approved by EPA. That’s designed to give states some flexibility to ensure reliability or meet their own regulations. But that doesn’t mean states can rely on their pro-coal leanings to propose plans that wouldn’t slash coal emissions as quickly as the EPA wants, said Stacy Tellinghuisen, deputy director of policy development for Western Resource Advocates.

“At a high level, states can set whatever policies they want, but at the end of the day, they have to comply with the Clean Air Act,” Tellinghuisen said. “Ultimately, the future of a power plant is a conversation between state and federal regulators, utilities, utility commissions, environmentalists and consumer groups to figure out the most cost-effective and reliable solution.”

FRANKFORT, KY (March 29, 2023) – The following is a statement from Senator Robby Mills regarding the passage of State Senate Bill 4 without Governor Beshear’s signature. The bill, sponsored by Senator Robby Mills, will help protect the state’s electric grid from the threat posed by the ill-advised closure of much of the state’s coal-fired electric generation fleet.

“For the sake of Kentucky ratepayers and the job-producing coal industry being bludgeoned by federal regulations, I am happy Senate Bill 4 will be state law. While it would have been great for the Governor to stand in solidarity with the legislature and Kentucky residents by placing his signature on Senate Bill 4, we should be grateful that Governor Beshear is currently running for re-election and decided that no action was more politically expedient.”

Senate Bill 4 strengthens electric grid reliability in the Commonwealth and ensures Kentucky’s residents are not faced with the dangerous and sometimes deadly consequences of power outages, “brown-outs,” or “black-outs.” The bill would prohibit the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) from authorizing the retirement of a fossil-fuel-fired electric power generating unit unless the utility can demonstrate that:

• The utility will replace the retired unit with a new electric generating capacity that is dispatchable; maintains or improves the reliability and resilience of the electric transmission grid; and maintains the adequate minimum reserve capacity;

• The retirement of the unit will not harm the utility’s ratepayers by causing the utility to incur costs to be recovered from the ratepayers that could be avoided by continuing to operate the unit.

• The decision to retire the unit is not the result of any financial incentives or benefits offered by any federal agency. Additional bill provisions would require the PSC to submit an annual report by December 1 to the Legislative Research Commission on the retirement of electric generating units.

Senate Bill 4 carries an emergency designation, which means it became effective state law immediately upon filing with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office.

Senator Robby Mills, R-Henderson, represents the 4th Senate District, including Henderson, Hopkins, Union, and Webster Counties. He serves as Senate State and Local Government Committee chair and is a Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Labor; Natural Resources; and Energy and Transportation committee member. Additionally, he is a Public Pension Oversight Board member and a member of the Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government, Finance and Public Protection.

For more information contact Tucker Davis at the Kentucky Coal Association at (859)233-4743 or via email at tdavis@kentuckycoal.com. 

BY LIAM NIEMEYER Kentucky Lantern

Mar 17, 2023

FRANKFORT — A bill backed by Kentucky’s coal industry that would make it harder for utilities to retire fossil fuel-fired power plants received final passage Thursday in the Kentucky House of Representatives, sending the legislation for Gov. Andy Beshear’s consideration.

Senate Bill 5, primarily sponsored by Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson, would impose a series of prerequisites on the Kentucky Public Service Commission, the state regulator of utilities, before the commission could approve a utility’s request to retire a fossil fuel-fired power plant.

The bill sparked strong debate over the role coal-fired power will play in the future of the state, where coal currently generates the large majority of electricity for Kentuckians. Most Republicans touted their support for coal, asserting that past and planned retirements of coal-fired power plants in Kentucky and across the country threaten the reliability of the state’s electric grid.

“When it comes to renewable energy, I have no problem. But the wind won’t always blow and the sun won’t always shine. But coal always keeps the lights on,” said Rep. Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester on the House floor.

Mills, the primary bill sponsor, and other Republicans point to rolling blackouts implemented by some Kentucky utilities due to arctic temperatures as a recent example as to why the legislation is needed. During a legislative hearing earlier this year about the rolling blackouts, utility leaders instead pointed to key components of a natural gas pipeline that froze as a cause behind the rolling blackouts.

https://www.somerset-kentucky.com/kentucky/bill-making-it-harder-to-retire-kentucky-coal-plants-heads-to-governor-s-desk/article_438b44bc-c4ea-11ed-8a70-5f565dd1d9b8.html