How greenhouse gases and Best Available Control Technology could shape the regulatory landscape—and the environment.
Two cases involving traditional pollutants and climate change are before the court. In addition to questions about the EPA’s regulatory power, both cases raise critical threshold “jurisdictional” questions about the courts’ role in addressing these issues.
What federal regulators should do to ensure security, reliability, and cleaner air in our nation’s capital.
The District of Columbia Public Service Commission successfully has used two little known provisions in the Federal Power Act (FPA) to prevent an aging generating plant crucial to the national capital region’s reliability from being abruptly shut down by Virginia’s environmental regulators. In the end, the immediate threat to the region’s reliability was obviated while the environmental concerns associated with the plant were not ignored. The action resulted in a model for how federal energy regulators and environmental regulators can address similar problems in the future.
Does the Clean Air Act require the agency to consider the most low-emission coal plant technologies in permitting new plants?
Why doesn’t its interpretation of the Clean Air Act consider the most low-emission coal plant technologies?
Congress revamps LNG and storage, giving broad new powers to FERC. Why the Feds still must consult with local authorities.
A major objective of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT) is to counter the worsened conditions in the natural-gas market that began in 2000 and are expected to continue over the next several years—namely, tight natural-gas supplies and high, volatile gas prices caused by a distinct shift in the supply-demand balance. Any noticeable reductions in gas prices that might be effectuated by the act will have little impact on natural-gas prices for a number of years.
Which utilities and states will be most affected by the new rules?
Environmental Emissions: The cost to power markets of the Clean Air Interstate Rule depends on the ability to trade mercury.
The decision to limit mercury provides cover for utilities reluctant to spend on controlling NOx and SO2, while boosting other companies
How the Clean Air Mercury Rule will affect coal prices.
The Environmental Protection Agency reviews how the multi-pollutant control concept is to work.
Currently, 132 areas do not meet the new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particles or ozone, affecting some 160 million people, or 57 percent of the U.S. population. What efforts are under way by the EPA to bring these areas into compliance?
Utilities will face stark tradeoffs in meeting the next round of emissions controls.
The technology works, but public policy will dictate its future.