EPA Finalizes the Affordable Clean Energy Rule

Generation Capacity: 55% ND Coal 34% Wind 8% Hydro 3% Other (Milton R. Young power plant, Center, ND

EPA Finalizes the Affordable Clean Energy Rule

Marshal Albright, President/CEO

Last month, the EPA finalized a rule to regulate CO2 from coal plants. This rule is important to Cass County Electric Cooperative since North Dakota lignite coal is used to generate 67 percent of the electricity that we sell to our consumer-members.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing coal-based power plants on June 19.

At Cass County Electric Cooperative, we view the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule as an improvement of previous efforts by the EPA to address CO2 emissions.

The ACE rule will be implemented in three steps:

1. The EPA sets the best system of emission reductions for existing power plants. To be clear, the EPA is not setting a presumptive standard of performance. States will be given the flexibility to design a plan that best suits their local environmental and energy needs. The EPA has identified six candidate technologies that focus on on-site heat rate improvements.

2. Each state will have three years to submit a plan that establishes a standard of performance that falls within the EPA’s guidelines. This timeline is in line with other state planning deadlines under the Clean Air Act.

3. Once the state’s plan is submitted, the EPA will have 12 months to approve it.

The ACE rule replaces the previous Administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). Although finalized in 2015, the CPP was never implemented due to a Supreme Court stay pursued by Minnkota Power Cooperative and other electric cooperatives. The CPP’s stringent targets and aggressive timelines would have likely forced North Dakota utilities into costly, irreversible and irrevocable decisions on the future operation of their coal-based facilities.

It is crucial that as a consumermember, you are informed on key power supply issues.