EPA’s Utility Rule Harms Economy for No Benefit

Washington, D.C., December 21, 2011— The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) blasted the Utility MACT Rule released today by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

“With an annual price tag anywhere from $10 billion (EPA’s estimate) to $100 billion (industry’s estimate), this is one of the most expensive regulations ever,” said CEI Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman. “Its ridiculous justification is to protect pregnant, subsistence fisherwomen who consume more than 300 pounds of self-or family-caught fish annually.”

Utility MACT’s outrageous costs are compounded by evidence that EPA insufficiently considered the regulation’s impact on electricity reliability. According to Yeatman, “EPA failed to adequately consult regional transmission organizations, whose job it is to maintain reliability. One such organization, the PJM Interconnection, estimated that coal power plant retirements could be 10 times what the EPA claimed in the proposed rule. EPA rushed forward with the Utility MACT before we know whether it could turn out the lights.”