The City Wire reports:
Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company on Tuesday (Sept. 3) joined Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt in challenging a ruling by the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that would allow the Environmental Protection Agency to impose strict pollution regulations on the state.
OG&E officials contend the EPA mandate will result in higher costs for all customers in the utility’s network.
Residential customers as a group would likely face the bulk of increased costs. Operating revenue for OG&E for the first half of 2013 from residential sales was $402.3 million, or just short of 40% of the total operating revenue of $1.03 billion. Commercial power sales were 24.46% of total operating revenue.
In a telephone conversation from the company’s Oklahoma City headquarters, Spokesman Brian Alford said the EPA was not allowing the state to implement its own plan to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions as required by the Clean Air Act.
“Each state was required to put together a plan to outline how it would reduce its emissions,” Alford said. “Oklahoma put out a plan that continued to use coal (in power plants), but at the same time used more natural gas and other technology to remove emissions.”
The EPA rejected the plan, which was meant to comply with the CAA’s “regional haze rule.”
Obama promised to drastically increase coal power costs.
There’s one promise he kept.
So, will the People’s Republik of Kalifornia be dinged for the “haze” caused by recent forest fires?
If the actual goal is to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gases then a half dozen nuclear plants in that area of the country would have the air clean and pure in a matter of days. If the actual goal is to control every aspect of ones life by controlling and rationing energy, then the CAA provisions are the way to go.