That’s what Kansas largest power provider says.
The Kansas City Star reports,
New federal rules to clean up coal-fired power plants are so voluminous that Westar Energy hasn’t even read them all yet.
But one thing is certain: The cost of improving air quality will find its way to your utility bill in the form of higher prices for electricity.
As of late last week, Westar, the state’s dominant power company with 687,000 customers, was evaluating the impact of rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday.
“It will add to the cost of electricity,” said Bill Eastman, director of Environmental Services for Westar. “It’s just a trade-off between environmental improvement and electric prices.”
Asked how the rules will affect rates, Niki Christopher, an attorney for the Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board, answered: “Raise them. Considerably”…
“If what the local utilities are telling us is true, it may get to the point where we have rolling blackouts” on hot summer days when usage peaks, she said. [Emphasis added]
This does not seem forthright of Westar. Their primary units already have wet FGD technology for SO2 and HCl. The flagship station, Jeffrey Energy Center underwent a recent FGD upgrade. They should only require chemical mercury oxidation to meet the MATS Hg limit. This technology is not as expensive as ACI. Unless some units are having difficulty meeting the PM limit, Westar should be good to go for most of their units.
Surely the FGD costs have already hit the rate payer.
Then the joke’s on you as 99.5% of mercury emissions come from sources other than U.S. power plants.
I would gladly pay a higher electric bill so I could eat the fish I have caught in Kansas without worrying about mercury content.