No surprise here.
During a recent Congressional hearing, a Department of Energy official confirmed that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new rule on greenhouse gas emissions would make electricity prices skyrocket.
Responding to a question from Representative Joe Barton (R-TX), Dr. Julio Friedmann told the committee that the EPA mandated use of carbon capture and storage technology (CCS) would make electricity prices jump by over 70 percent.
In an earlier post on my commentary, “EPA’s New Power Plant Rule Will Doom King Coal,” I explained that EPA’s goal was to stop the construction of new coal power plants by forcing utilities to use the very expensive CCS technology.
The Daily Caller‘s story, “EPA ‘clean coal’ rule would increase power prices by 70 or 80 percent,” described Friedmann’s testimony:
Dr. Julio Friedmann, the deputy assistant secretary for clean coal at the Department of Energy, told House lawmakers that the first generation of carbon capture and storage technology would increase wholesale electricity prices by “70 or 80 percent.”
The Obama administration’s plan to fight global warming includes limiting carbon dioxide from new power plants. In order for new coal-fired power plants to be built, however, they would need to install costly carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
“The precise number will vary, but for first generation we project $70-90 per ton (on the wholesale price of electricity),” Friedmann said. “For second generation, it will be more like a $40-50/ton price. Second generation of demonstrations will begin in a few years, but won’t be until middle of the next decade (2022-2025) that we will have lessons learned and cost savings.”
Despite EPA’s claims to the contrary, its new greenhouse gas rule will end the use of coal in the United States.