Denver, Co. – Leaders from key consumer groups, businesses, seniors, and labor and public officials from the nation’s western region today convened a press conference with Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) at The Oxford Hotel to voice concerns with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recently proposed Clean Power Plan.
If enacted, EPA’s proposed rules would significantly squeeze the nation’s energy infrastructure, cause substantial reliability concerns and ensure higher electricity prices across the board.
The proposed rules could cost Americans $17 billion a year more to pay their electricity bill, and hit the economy with $50 billion a year in new costs. These alarming figures are at the center of debate as the EPA continues to host a two-day public hearing on the proposed policies that began today at the EPA Region 8 Building in Denver.
Sean McCarville, Business Manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers- Local 111:
“In an environment where Colorado and the nation continues to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression, EPA’s Clean Power Plan would have a major effect on urban areas while negatively impacting fragile rural communities who receive their energy through electric co-ops. In addition, the approximately 3,500 Local 111 members who work for electric association/co-ops, generation/transmission companies, and investor-owned utilities will see a substantial threat to their middle-class careers; careers that include health and retirement benefits.”
Andrew Browning, Executive Vice President, Consumer Energy Alliance:
“EPA’s aggressive timeline allows states only one year to develop a very complex plan that will need to address a series of adjustments to their electricity generation, consumption and energy infrastructure. Forcing through regulations of this magnitude in such a short timeframe will limit the ability of states and stakeholders to thoughtfully prepare for the drastic changes that this rule will cause. If this Administration is comfortable spending more than five years evaluating the Keystone XL pipeline, it should feel comfortable taking its time to craft a thoughtful rule that fully evaluates the consequences of its proposed actions.”
Brent Boydston, Vice President of Public Policy, Colorado Farm Bureau:
“Agriculture relies heavily on energy for day-to-day operations. Energy is required to run irrigation systems, feed livestock, plant fields, and harvest, transport and process food. The current proposal by EPA will make daily operations more expensive and unfairly burden farmers and ranchers.”
Shawn Taylor, Executive Director, Wyoming Rural Electric Association:
“It doesn’t take a study to see what the impact if this rule will be. When power plants close, we lose jobs.”
