Politics

Congressman Slams EPA For Claiming Global Warming Rules Will Reduce Energy Prices

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Michael Bastasch DCNF Managing Editor
Font Size:

Rep. David McKinley was astounded to hear a top Environmental Protection Agency official say regulations to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants would reduce consumer energy bills after 2030.

“Are you serious?” McKinley, a West Virginia Republican, asked EPA acting administrator for clean air Janet McCabe in a hearing Wednesday. McCabe had just said Americans’ energy bills would go down after 2030 as a result of energy efficiency mandates.

“That is what our analysis shows across the country,” McCabe said, talking about the agency’s regulations forcing states to reduce power plant emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. EPA claims that despite huge amounts of coal-fired power plants closures, these regulations would reduce energy bills 8 percent after 2030.

“Unbelieveable,” McKinley said. “Just seems delusional.”

While energy bills may go down 8 percent after 2030 because of energy efficiency measures like EPA predicts, that’s only after a “4 to 7 percent increase in retail electricity prices, on average, across the contiguous U.S. in 2020,” according to the agency’s own proposal.

The EPA also says its rule would cause “a 16 to 22 percent reduction in coal-fired electricity generation” and cause “electric power sector delivered natural gas prices will increase by about 8 to 12 percent in 2020.” The agency adds that electric bills would fall 8 percent after 2030 because energy efficiency measures would reduce overall demand for power, meaning people would be using less energy.

But Republicans were skeptical of the EPA’s claim that electricity bills will fall after 2030, pointing to the fact that government data shows electricity rates going up through 2014 and 2015. Government data also projects annual electricity rates in 2016 to be the highest levels ever — in terms of nominal pricing.

Lawmakers also pressed McCabe on whether or not the EPA’s CO2 plan would allow states to adjust emissions reductions if electricity rates rise too high. States won’t be able to do that, which Republicans criticized the agency for.

Despite criticisms, McCabe said the CO2 regulations would “give states flexibility” to “protect lower income ratepayers” from increases in electricity prices in the coming years. Overall, the EPA estimates the rule would cost between $5.5 billion and $7.5 billion in 2020 and $7.3 billion and $8.8 billion in 2030.

But utilities say the EPA is underestimating the costs of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. PJM Interconnection, the country’s largest power grid operator, reported EPA’s regulations would retire 49 gigawatts of power in the worst-case scenario — enough to power 50 million homes.

Another analysis by the National Economic Research Associates, done on behalf of the coal industry, found that EPA’s CO2 regulation would raise electricity prices in the 31 states by 12 percent from 2017 to 2031.

NERA’s report also estimated that coal-fired “unit retirements would increase by about 45 gigawatts… Coal-fired generation would decline by about 29% on average” from 2017 to 2031.

Follow Michael on Twitter

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel