Environment and policy experts at a forum in the City Hall council chambers Monday night concluded that there are months of work and uncertainty ahead for the Clean Power Plan.
Janet McCabe, the acting assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air and Radiation Office, began with a presentation on the Clean Power Plan and what it means for Indiana.
As one part of President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the CPP is supposed to regulate carbon emissions from power plants.
According to the EPA’s original timeline, states would have been asked to submit a draft of a plan to reduce pollution in September of 2016 and a final plan in September 2018.
Reductions would become mandatory in 2022.
All of the EPA’s regulations are subject to challenges, McCabe said, so it was no surprise that the CPP has been challenged in court.
What was surprising, she said, was the Supreme Court’s decision to put a stay on the legislation on Feb. 9.
“I think it’s safe to say that states will not be making their submissions in September,” she said.
The death of associate justice Antonin Scalia has added more uncertainty to the legislation’s proceedings.
“It’s been a very interesting last couple of weeks in Clean Power Plan Land,” McCabe said.
The D.C. Circuit Court will hear the arguments for and against the CPP on June 2, McCabe said.
She said she expects a decision from them in the late summer or early fall.
However, it’s likely the Supreme Court will be asked to retry the plan if the Circuit Court upholds it, McCabe said.
“If that’s all moving along in a timely manner, we might hear a decision in 2017, at the end of the 2017 term,” she said.
IU environmental economics professor Ken Richards said the CPP’s fate will ultimately rest in the hands of whichever party ends up in the White House.
“If we have a Democrat, it’ll almost certainly be upheld,” Richards said. “If it’s a Republican, the only question is what creative method they’ll use to undo it.”
Jesse Kharbanda, the executive director of the Hoosier Energy Council, said there is the possibility that energy and power rates could go up, but argued the benefits to jobs in renewable energy would also cancel out any costs to the coal industry.
At a national level, Kharbanda argued, the U.S. is moving away from coal.
Coal workers can therefore be “retooled” to work in other areas, perhaps even renewable energy jobs, he said.
“Indiana stands to benefit more than other states because it has so many resources that equip it for wind turbines, for solar and geothermal energy,” Kharbanda said.
However, he said there is also “tremendous flexibility” in how Indiana could reduce pollution, by making plants more energy-efficient or by focusing on renewable sources.
Mark Maassel, president of the Indiana Energy Association, which represents utilities companies in the state, warned against the upfront costs of replacing or refitting power plant equipment, even if it results in a reduction in costs to the plant later on.
He said while it was possible to end up with a “zero-number” in terms of costs versus benefits, some specialists predicted up to 20 percent higher energy rates if the CPP is implemented.
“Economists are all over,” he said. “I can’t tell you what it’ll cost.”
In order to operate efficiently and responsibly, Maassel said, utilities companies need to look into energy efficiency and renewable resources.
While the stay might make some utilities companies uncertain where to invest for the time being, Maassel said he is glad the court’s final decision will keep companies from incurring any unnecessary costs.
“Power plants without certain pollution equipment are cheaper than those with,” he said.
If the CPP passes and states don’t make a power plan, McCabe said the federal government will step in to ensure the emissions regulations are met.
However, that’s not the ideal plan, she said, as states can choose to work together regionally to cut pollution overall or implement other solutions the EPA cannot.
“We have a narrower set of tools to work with,” McCabe said.
As Gov. Mike Pence has stated he won’t follow the CPP in the past, it’s unclear what this could mean for Indiana, McCabe said.
Maassel said Indiana government would put together a task force to determine the best way to implement the CPP, if passed.
But whether the state actually submits an energy plan is, he said, up to Pence.
Maassel said anyone with an interest in energy in Indiana should contact the government and weigh in.
“We have the ability, we have the right, and I think we have the obligation to engage with our policymakers,” Maassel said. “Please be constructive, be civil, but engage.”
