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Trump’s EPA Signals Changes for Power Plant Mercury Rule

April 21, 2017

The Trump administration is “closely” reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) final cost consideration finding for its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) to determine whether it should reconsider the rule or some part of it, it said in an April 18 federal court filing.

The EPA filed a motion with the D.C. Circuit urging the court to delay oral arguments scheduled on May 18 for a case filed by an assortment of coal producing and generating companies, which are challenging the agency’s “Supplemental Finding That It Is Appropriate and Necessary To Regulate Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units.”

Delay and Deflect

In its court filing, the agency said that it needs more time as it “intends to closely review the Supplemental Finding, and the prior positions taken by the Agency with respect to the Supplemental Finding may not necessarily reflect its ultimate conclusions after that review is complete.”

The Obama administration’s EPA issued the final supplemental finding a year ago after a divided Supreme Court in June 2015 (in Michigan v.…

Maryland Passes Energy Storage Tax Credit

April 19, 2017

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Maryland on April 10 became the first state in the nation to pass legislation enacting a tax credit for residential and commercial energy storage installations.

The measure passed unanimously in the state Senate, and with a 101–11 vote in the House. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is expected to sign SB 758 into law.

The bill offers up to $ 5,000 for residential installations, $ 150,000 for commercial installations, or 30% of the total cost of installations. Credits can only be claimed for systems installed between January 2018 and December 2022. The tax credit applies to all energy storage technologies.

Earlier this week, Maryland also passed HB 773, which calls for an energy storage technology study to determine how Maryland can use energy storage to open the path to a more reliable electric system.

According to the Energy Storage Association, in 2016, commercial deployment of energy storage systems grew more than 100% over the previous year and installed system costs plummeted another 30%.…

Interior Dept., Peabody Energy Seek to Keep Coal-Fired Navajo Plant Open

April 17, 2017

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The Navajo Generating Station can continue to be competitive under a reduced-price fuel proposal through 2040, said Peabody Energy, the coal giant which owns a coal mine currently fueling the Arizona plant.

The utility owners of the Navajo plant on February 16 voted to shut down the 2,250-MW coal-fired power plant in December 2019. The decision to close the plant on tribal land near Page along the border with Utah was based on the “rapidly changing economics of the energy industry,” which has seen natural gas prices sink to record lows, the plant’s owners said.

The plant is operated by Salt River Project (SRP). SRP is a utility owner along with Arizona Public Service Co., Tucson Electric Power Co., and NV Energy. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is a participant in the project.

But according to the Arizona Republic, Peabody Energy told regulators last week that the power plant could profit under new ownership. The newspaper reported that the coal company’s officials are “positioning the Navajo Generating Station for new buyers to come in and take over the troubled coal plant, which would allow the company to continue selling coal to the facility” from its Kayenta Mine in northern Arizona.…

EPA Rescinds Effluent Limitations Guidelines Rule

April 15, 2017

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will review and reconsider revisions to technology-based effluent limitations guidelines (ELG) and standards finalized by the Obama administration in September 2015.

Power generators around the nation have been readying to comply with the rule that sets the first federal limits on the levels of toxic metals in wastewater discharges from steam electric power plants. Plants had been expected to comply with the rule between 2018 and 2023, depending on when they need a new Clean Water Act permit.

As with nearly every environmental rule promulgated by the Obama administration, the ELG rule has been challenged in court by a coalition of utilities led by the Southwestern Electric Power Co. That case, Southwestern Elec. Power Co. v. EPA, et al, No. 15-60821, currently under review by the Fifth Circuit, consolidates seven separate petitions for review.

According to a statement issued by the EPA on April 13, the agency said it would review and reconsider the rule, which it noted, “has been estimated to cost $ 480 million per year and has a reported average cost of $ 1.2 billion per year during the first five years of compliance.”…

Report: Global Renewable Investment Down, Capacity Grows

April 11, 2017

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Global new renewable power capacity grew in 2016 even as global new investment in renewables dropped, according to a report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Program out April 6.

The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2017 report found that global investment in renewables—excluding large hydro—fell in 2016 by 23% to $ 241.6 billion. That total represented the lowest global investment since 2013.

Global renewable power capacity grew 8% in 2016. “Wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-energy, geothermal, small hydro and marine sources between them added 138.5GW, up from 127.5GW in the previous year,” according to the report.

The reason for the drop in investment is twofold, the report says. “One was lower costs, with average dollar capital expenditure per MW down by more than 10% for solar photovoltaics, onshore wind and offshore wind, improving the competitiveness of those technologies,” according to the report. “The other was not so positive – there was a marked slowdown in financings in China, Japan and some emerging markets during the course of the year.…

Fight to Keep EPA’s Clean Power Plan Alive Intensifies in Federal Court

April 7, 2017

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A coalition of 24 states and localities have urged a federal court reviewing the merits of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan to stall the agency’s recent motion to suspend a case challenging the controversial rule.

West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (No. 15-1363) is arguably the most important set of environmental cases in nearly a decade. For the U.S. power sector, the stakes are particularly high. The sector has grappled with uncertainty about the Clean Power Plan’s future since the Supreme Court issued a stay of the rule on February 9, 2016.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case before an en banc panel on merits of the EPA’s controversial rule on September 27, 2016.

Twenty-seven states are challenging the legality of the rule finalized by the EPA under the Obama administration. They are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.…