Browsing by Subject "Clean Power Plan"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Allowance Allocation Options under the Clean Power Plan Proposed Mass-Based Model Rule
    (2016-04-28) Thompson, Dacia
    The Clean Power Plan is a major element of the United States’ strategy to combat climate change. The Clean Power Plan addresses carbon emissions from existing power plants by setting emissions limits for each state. Under the Clean Power Plan, states are supposed to develop their own plans to meet the goal that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set. When EPA published the final version of the Clean Power Plan, the Agency also proposed model rules for the states. These model rules establish a trading-ready scheme that states can adapt to their individual policy priorities. The EPA published a mass- and rate-based model rule, and this paper focuses on the mass-based rule because it raises the question of allowance allocation while a rate-based rule would not. This paper explores the policy priorities that states may want to pursue through their Clean Power Plan compliance efforts. It also reviews the allowance allocation choices that states with mass-based trading plans will have to make and how the states may incorporate their policy goals into those decisions.
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    Interstate Leakage of Carbon Pollution Abatement
    (2015-04-21) Hile, Sam
    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed state-specific limits on carbon pollution from existing sources in its recent “Clean Power Plan” proposal. These goals reflect the potential of states to reduce carbon emissions by, among other things, reducing demand for electricity generated from fossil fuels via end-use energy efficiency. The interconnected nature of the electricity grid, however, frequently causes the fossil generation reductions associated with these policies to transpire outside the state responsible for their implementation. This report shall refer to these phenomena as “interstate effects.” States implementing the Clean Power Plan (CPP) may only be interested in pursuing energy efficiency programs for compliance purposes if the associated carbon savings can be counted regardless of where they physically occur. However, the proposed rule would require states implementing such policies to ensure that the associated reductions are not double-counted by the state whose generation and emissions levels are affected. Interstate effects could thus influence the development of state compliance strategy. This Master’s Project seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and range of magnitude of interstate effects between power pools, under various levels of energy efficiency. It will demonstrate that up to nearly 40% of total carbon pollution abatement may occur outside the pool implementing the energy efficiency program, and that in such instances, regional cooperation among states may be needed to ensure sufficient signals for them to invest in energy efficiency as a compliance measure.
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    Ongoing Evolution of the Electricity Industry: Effects of Market Conditions and the Clean Power Plan on States
    (2016-07-27) Ross, Martin; Hoppock, David; Murray, Brian
    The electricity industry is evolving as changes in natural gas and coal prices, along with environmental regulations, dramatically shift the generation mix. Future trends in gas prices and costs of renewables are likely to continue moving the industry away from coal-fired generation and into lower-emitting sources such as natural gas and renewables. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) is likely to amplify these trends. The CPP rule regulates emissions from existing fossil generators and allows states to choose among an array of rate-based and mass-based goals. The analysis in this paper uses the electricity-dispatch component of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions’ Dynamic Integrated Economy/Energy/Emissions Model to evaluate electricity industry trends and CPP impacts on the U.S. generation mix, emissions, and industry costs. Several coordinated approaches to the Clean Power Plan are considered, along with a range of uncoordinated “patchwork” choices by states. The model results indicate future industry trends are likely to make compliance with the Clean Power Plan relatively inexpensive; cost increases are likely to be on the order of 0.1% to 1.0%. Some external market conditions such as high gas prices could increase these costs, whereas low gas or renewables prices can achieve many of CPP goals without additional adjustments by the industry. However, policy costs can vary substantially across states, and may lead some of them to adopt a patchwork of policies that, although in their own best interests, could impose additional costs on neighboring states.
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    Revisiting the NAAQS Program for Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the Clean Air Act
    (2017-01-05) Reichert, Christina; Litz, Franz; Monast, Jonas; Profeta, Timothy; Adair, Sarah
    The future is uncertain for the regulation of greenhouse gases from power plants, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, which covers existing plants. The rule is under review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court has indicated its interest in hearing the case. Moreover, during his presidential campaign, president-elect Donald Trump promised to “scrap” the Clean Power Plan. If the rule is overturned or is severely weakened, whether through litigation or executive action, stakeholders are likely to litigate to seek to force the EPA to use other authorities under the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This working paper examines the opportunities and challenges associated with regulation of greenhouse gases under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) program, drawing a comparison with the Clean Power Plan’s approach under a different section of the Clean Air Act. The paper offers no opinion on the Clean Power Plan litigation, nor does it advocate for the Clean Power Plan or the NAAQS approach. Its focus is on understanding how the NAAQS program might incorporate greenhouse gases in in the event that the EPA pursues that approach.