Behind the Plug

The Business Roundtable (BRT) outlined its priorities in a new report. Although many of the recommendations have been talked about, members of the BRT Roundtable said they hope the new Congress and President Barack Obama’s  will make progress on their agenda, including  recommendations for the EPA:

“Ensuring that EPA regulations are based on sound science, undergo thorough net cost-benefit analysis, and take into consideration the net cumulative impact these regulations have on energy costs, economic growth and job creation, while being protective of human health and the environment.”

“Carefully evaluating the timing and cumulative impact of EPA regulations on the electric utility industry and, as appropriate, modifying these regulations to ensure continued reliability, avoid unreasonable rate impacts, and maintain a diverse, market-driven portfolio of baseload electricity generation fuel options.”

The BRT is an association of chief executive officers from many leading U.S. companies with over $6 trillion in annual revenues and more than 14 million employees. Their companies generate an estimated $420 billion in sales for small and medium-sized businesses annually. BRT members comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock market and invest more than $150 billion annually in research and development — nearly half of all private U.S. R&D spending.

As talks heat up about who will be nominated to be the next EPA Administrator, the nominee will need to listen to  voices like the BRT and take these recommendations into consideration and understand that it’s best to take a common sense action to protect the environment while not harming American jobs and consumers.

As we’ve said before, the next head of the EPA needs to fully analyze and understand the full, cumulative economic impacts of its regulations. American jobs are at stake, as well as access to affordable, reliable electricity that is a pillar to our economic recovery.

BRT companies pay $163 billion in dividends to shareholders and give nearly $9 billion a year in combined charitable contributions.

This story originally appeared on Platts.

The head of a powerful industry group blasted President Barack Obama’s perceived opposition to coal and his support of environmental regulations that he said have caused more than 200 coal-fired plants to shut down, accounting for a loss of roughly 38,000 MW.

Robert “Mike” Duncan, president and CEO of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said that new greenhouse gas regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency were shutting plants and costing American jobs.

“Today we have unelected bureaucrats at the EPA who have been overreaching in their powers and making it very difficult for baseline electricity, such as coal, to produce in this country,” Duncan said on Sunday’s edition of Platts Energy Week.

Duncan criticized Obama’s support for climate change action in his recent State of the Union address, which he said ignores market realities, and his calls for advances in energy efficiency, clean energy and energy independence without a mention of coal.  ”This is a pattern that’s occurring,” Duncan said. “He specifically omits coal and that’s very disappointing.”

Duncan, who was named president of the coal group in August, is the former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority and a former chairman of American Crossroads, a Republican fundraising group founded by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie and former White House strategist Karl Rove.

Duncan said that EPA regulations, along with high costs and low natural gas prices, are hurting advances in new energy technology, particularly carbon sequestration.

“I would have liked to have moved faster on that, but we have disincentives in our government,” he said.  Coal plants want to improve efficiency but, Duncan said, are required to meet “impossible standards,” he said.  ”We can solve this problem if the EPA would work with the industry,” he said.

Tomorrow, ACCCE President and CEO, Robert “Mike” Duncan will be a guest on Platts Energy Week in Washington, D.C. During his interview, Duncan will discuss a variety of topics facing the coal-based electricity industry, including prospects for new clean coal technologies.

Platts Energy Week is an independent all energy news and talk program aired weekly in Washington D.C., and Houston that reaches industry executives, lawmakers, policymakers, traders and investors, regulators and other stakeholders in energy.

We hope you’ll be watching.

Last month we mentioned a story regarding the Navajo Generating Station that stated that EPA regulations that would require adding new emissions controls to the plant would cost $1.1 billion and would only marginally reduce the plants portion of haze in the area.

It was reported yesterday that Arizona’s economy could soon be feeling the effects of higher electricity rates under regulations recently announced by the EPA, a group of state lawmakers were told on Monday.

According to the White Mountain Independent, “In a rare joint committee hearing chaired by Senator Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), members of the SenateGovernment and Environment Committee and the House Energy, Environment, andNatural Resources Committee, chaired by Representative Frank Pratt (R-Casa Grande) heard testimony from state air quality regulators, utility officials, a hospital executive, union representative, and the Director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, all of whom agreed that new regulations announced by the EPA could have a significant, negative impact on Arizona’s economy and its ability to attract and create new jobs.”

“This is a non-partisan issue that has alarmed Republicans and Democrats alike,” Senator Griffin said. “Regardless of how one feels about the EPA, there is nothing logical about requiring Arizona residents to pay a billion dollars for regulations that make virtually no improvement in visibility and have nothing to do with public health.”

This is just further evidence that the EPA continues to ignore the damage that its new regulations are causing to the U.S. economy and to states that depend on coal for jobs and affordable electricity.