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Regulating Greenhouse Gas Pollution from Existing Power Plants
The State of the Debate
Environmentalists, industry groups, and state governments have been vocal regarding their preferences for the shape of EPA’s forthcoming rule on greenhouse gas pollution from existing power plants. In this policy brief, Jack Lienke and Jason Schwartz survey 30 public letters, white papers, presentations, and reports from these stakeholders and outline their positions.
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Comments Submitted to EPA on Proposed Emissions Standards for New Power Plants
Policy Integrity submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on its proposed performance standards for greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants. To help maximize the net benefits of the proposed standards and to ensure their solid legal foundation, Policy Integrity made the following recommendations:
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Annual Energy Outlook Projections and the Future of Solar PV Electricity
The topic of this paper is the assumed growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) in current energy models, with a focus on information from Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA resolves the difficulty of modeling solar energy into the future by assuming its current growth will not continue. However, EIA’s assumptions on the future costs of solar PV are highly pessimistic, and its methodology would appear to bias its “Reference Case” projections toward lower growth of solar energy. Sure enough, past AEOs have systematically underestimated the future growth of solar PV. Energy modelers therefore may need to adjust the AEO forecast in order to reflect a most likely baseline trajectory for solar PV.
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Comments on Con Edison Storm Hardening and Resilience Collaborative Report
On January 10, Policy Integrity, along with New York University’s Guarini Center, submitted comments on Con Edison’s Storm Hardening and Resilience Collaborative Report. The comments urge New York’s Public Service Commission (PSC) to extend the charter of the cost-benefit analysis working group convened as part of the collaborative process surrounding Con Edison’s latest ratemaking proceeding.
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Peak Efficiency
How Regulating Electricity Demand Could Save Lives in New York City
This policy brief discusses an on-going inter-disciplinary study to measure whether laws that reshape local electricity demand can achieve significant health benefits in New York City. A
collaborative effort of legal, economic, and public health researchers, the study will answer crucial questions that should inform New York’s energy planning decisions -
New York City Energy Data
Policy Integrity is conducting an empirical analysis of power plant emissions in New York City to evaluate the potential efficacy of various policy tools that can reduce or shift electricity demand. The complete project will quantify the health impacts of reducing pollution from specific local sources, and will try to connect the range of legal options available to shift demand with those pollution-reduction and health-improvement outcomes. Today we are posting information on the data and the STATA code that we will use to conduct the analysis. In the coming months, we will publish the results of our analysis as it becomes available.
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EPA Releases NSPS for Power Plants
The EPA released its first ever greenhouse gas standards for new power plants after a delay at the beginning of the year. The New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) limit emissions from new plants to 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity produced.
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EPA Delays NSPS
The EPA has again delayed its proposal of New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) targeting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The agency passed a September settlement agreement deadline and has not set a date for the actual release.
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Launch of Energy Tax Breaks Wiki
Policy Integrity recently launched a wiki aimed at providing a better understanding of how energy sectors are subsidized by the tax code. The wiki will gather the expertise of lawyers, economists, tax professionals, and concerned citizens to catalog tax breaks received by the fossil and renewable energy industries.
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Letter to OIRA on NSPS
The federal regulation of greenhouse gases from coal-powered plants called “New Source Performance Standards” has been delayed several times but is now set to be released in early 2012.
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