Power shortages gripping California and other parts of the country are prompting some tough environmental choices for a key Republican lawmaker as he attempts to deliver on President-elect Bush's promise to boost energy supplies.
The electric utility industry has drafted a five-point national plan for addressing the power crisis in California that the industry says "poses a number of broad-based threats" to power generation. The plan calls for an increase in energy conservation efforts and investments in siting new power transmission facilities throughout most of the country.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has undergone a complete overhaul of its environmental subcommittees by adding clean air jurisdiction to the energy and power subcommittee and consolidating various environmental issues in an environment and hazardous materials subcommittee.
California's power crisis is likely to trigger a bidders' war over emission reduction credits (ERC) that may pose a significant problem for power plant construction in the state, according to informed sources. The prospect of skyrocketing ERC prices amid pressures for economic growth in the state was part of policy discussions at an energy and environment conference sponsored by EPA and the utility industry this week in Tucson, AZ.
Power shortfalls throughout much of the country are likely to increase the use of on-site electricity generators, which one utility expert says will require the formation of a national policy to address the environmental consequences of the smaller power facilities.
Geoff Keith of M.J. Bradley and Associates told utility pollution control executives this week at a meeting sponsored by EPA and the utility industry in Tucson, AZ, that the prospect of electric power shortages will likely increase because of shrinking generation capacities.
TUCSON, Arizona -- Recent developments in California regarding the state's energy crisis are influencing the national legislative debate over electricity deregulation, with one key House lawmaker saying he plans to push multi-pollutant emission controls on power plants as a free-standing issue. Pallone had pushed identical provisions in the past as part of a broader package to deregulate the power industry.
California air regulators are looking at ways to speed up environmental permits for power generation projects proposed by thirteen separate electric companies that state officials hope will ease the state's energy crisis. The proposals involve 30 electricity "peaking" projects that state officials expect to be online by the middle of June, according to sources.
To avoid power outages in California, state energy officials are recommending that the legislature give Gov. Gray Davis authority to postpone the installation of emission reduction equipment at power plants across the state. The installation of the equipment, primarily intended to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, is a key requirement of many local air district clean-air plans to meet federal smog reduction requirements.