Dive Brief:
- In her first speech to members, new American Public Power Association (APPA) CEO Sue Kelly warned of difficult times ahead for the public power industry.
- Kelly outlined the "substantial challenges" facing the industry: "threats to the federal power system, wholesale market dysfunction, distributed generation, climate change, and grid security."
- Kelly highlighted the challenges posed by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed regulations to cut CO2 emissions from existing power plants, which, she said, impede on state sovereignty and ignore the good work that municipal and other public utilities have done to further energy efficiency.
Dive Insight:
The EPA may not have followed the terms of the Clean Air Act because the statute says the agency can propose regulations designed to reduce emissions that are harmful to the environment and public health, Kelly pointed out.
But by mandating that the states come up with their own emissions reduction plans to meet the proposed targets, she said, the EPA may have overstepped its bounds by regulating the energy sector.
"It's questionable to us whether [EPA] actually has the authority to do what they have done," Kelly said. "It's an energy policy, not an environmental policy."