Energy Information Administration testifies on EPA Clean Power Plan to House Science, Space, and Technology subcommittees

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June 24, 2015

On June 24, the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittees on Energy and the Environment held a joint hearing on the impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan (CPP) on the energy sector. The hearing focused on a new Energy Information Administration (EIA) report on the effectiveness of the CPP.

According to the report, the CPP would more than double the rate of coal-fired plant closures compared to a “business as usual” scenario. Most of the resulting energy supply deficit would be initially replaced by natural gas but would eventually be replaced by renewables. The report predicts electricity rate increases of 10 percent in some areas through the end of implementation in 2030, which would factor into a 0.25 percent decline in GDP.

The report received criticism from Dr. Susan Tierny, Senior Advisor of the Analysis Group, and Democrats on the panel because it was not a cost-benefit analysis and did not consider the social cost of coal, a metric based on the health and infrastructure impacts of burning coal. Stephen Eule, Vice President for Climate and Technology for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that his analysis of the social cost of coal did not outweigh the CPP’s costs to the economy. The Heritage Foundation’s Kevin Dayaratna analyzed the EIA report and found that 80,000 jobs would be lost by 2030.

Sources: E&E News, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee