WYOMING – State officials and local energy producer blast Biden-Harris administration following U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s release of final rules to reign in control of fossil fuel-fired power plants.

“It is clear the only goal envisioned by these rules released by the EPA today is the end of coal communities in Wyoming,” Governor Mark Gordon said. “EPA has weaponized the fear of climate change into a crushing set of rules that will result in an unreliable electric grid, unaffordable electricity, and thousands of lost jobs. This Administration has turned its back on the very industries and states that have made our country strong.”

A press release by the governor’s office said, under the new rules, “Wyoming’s coal fired units are given three choices: 1) shut down by January 2032; 2) convert to natural gas co-firing by 2030, with a forced shutdown by January 1, 2039; or 3) install CO2 capture facilities by 2032.”

The governor vowed to challenge the rules in court.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative operates the Laramie River Station in Wheatland, a hydro-electric coal-fired electricity-generating facility. According to a statement regarding the EPA’s release of regulations, the cooperative “utilizes an all-of-the-above energy strategy to reliably server our 141 member cooperatives in nine states. Because Basin Electric serves areas of rural America that endure extreme temperatures and other variabilities, reliability is critical for commerce and basic survival.”

Basin Electric communications supervisor Lindsey Chumley added on behalf of the company, “While staff is still analyzing the recent EPA proposals and is evaluating what this means for the cooperative and our membership, we can already determine the proposed regulation attempts to force utilities into a decision to either install unproven technology on an unrealistic timeline that relies on infrastructure that is not yet available, or prematurely retire power generation facilities. Either option presents a threat to the affordable and reliable electric generation that Basin Electric guarantees its members have and continue to invest in.”

In its first-paragraph summary, the Biden-Harris Administration said the rules issued last week were finalized under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The rules represent a fulfillment of day-one commitments to “protect public health, advance environmental justice, and confront the climate crisis…[by] significantly reducing climate, air, water, and land pollution from the power sector.” The EPA rules are claimed to “protect all communities from pollution and improve public health without disrupting the delivery of reliable electricity.”

U.S. Senator John Barrasso, R-Wyo., released a statement blasting the power plant rules:

“As the Biden administration is headed out the door, they will be trying to push more and more punishing regulations that target American energy. This onslaught of overreaching and outrageous climate rules will shut down power plants and increase energy costs for families across the country. They will also handcuff America’s coal and natural gas production – two of our most affordable and reliable sources of electricity. Wyoming energy jobs will be threatened, electricity bills will rise, and the country will be at risk for rolling blackouts.”

“Americans deserve clean air, clear rules and reliable electricity. Punishing regulations make this impossible. Republicans will work to stop them and fight for solutions that protect our air and water and allow our economy to grow,” Barrasso promised.

Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., stated, “What the EPA conveniently ignored when announcing its latest attack on America’s legacy industries is how these shortsighted rules will devastate reliable and affordable energy and deepen the energy poverty crisis in our nation.”

“We need more affordable, reliable energy, not less,” Hageman continued. “The baseless, subjective standards created by these rules seek to upend the coal mines and power plants that built Wyoming and this country. For generations, the hard-working men and women of our state have dedicated their careers to making our lives better by responsibly developing Wyoming’s vast natural resources. I am both appalled and unsurprised that the Biden Administration continues to vilify our reliable energy producers and I call on the EPA to immediately rescind these destructive rules that benefit radical climate activists at the expense of the American people.”

Senator Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., says outright the EPA’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 regulations are designed to force closure of gas and coal-fired power plants in the whole country. “These rules would be disastrous for Wyoming power plants and coal mines which power the nation. President Biden’s Green New Deal-inspired rules appear designed to force the closure of Wyoming power plants with no plan to replace the energy currently being produced,” Lummis said. “This attack on Wyoming energy undermines our way of life by jeopardizing jobs and revenue for our state and local governments. Forcing the closure of gas and coal-fired plants that account for 60% of electricity generated across the country, while increasing demand by 30% through an electric vehicle mandate is not only unrealistic but dangerous. I will be working with my colleagues to overturn this disastrous set of regulations and protect Wyoming energy workers who power this country.”

Lummis’s press office additionally state the EPA Clean Power Plan 2.0 would repeal the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which established reasonable emission guidelines for states to use when developing plans to limit carbon dioxide at coal-fired power plants. It also enacts new standards on new and modified fossil-fuel power generation sources (including natural gas), and new standards on existing fossil-fuel power generation sources.

In August 2023, Senators Barrasso and Lummis joined 38 other republican senators and the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) committee in filing comments on the then-proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0, calling on the EPA to withdraw its plans to force the closure of coal and gas fired power plants.

“In direct conflict with West Virginia v. EPA, this proposal requires generation shifting from fossil-fuel power to other types of energy. While the Agency falsely claims this does not run afoul of the Supreme Court’s decision, it is undeniable the proposal would require generation shifting that the Court has definitively found Congress has never granted EPA the authority to require under the Clean Air Act,” the senators wrote in the letter.

A copy of the regulations released by the Biden administration can be found at www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-finalizes-suite-standards-reduce-pollution-fossil-fuel.

An article describing the petition by the senators last fall can be found at www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/8/capito-38-other-senators-call-on-epa-to-withdraw-harmful-power-plants-regulations