National Resources Defense Council fires back at Clean Power Plan opponents

In response to recent comments from the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) concerning the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) issued a statement today calling their fears unfounded.

“Despite NERC’s latest flawed analysis, we have confidence that the final rule will not weaken reliability,” NRDC Senior Attorney John Moore said. “For one, NERC virtually ignores energy efficiency and the building momentum of wind and solar power. And we are equally confident that EPA’s final rule will grant states and utilities sufficient time and the flexibility they need to design their own, individual plans to implement the rule, which will curb carbon pollution that drives climate change.”

The Clean Power Plan has met resistance from various energy sector stakeholders and some states, who argue that it will cause reliability issues in existing power grids and take issue with the plan’s allowance for a federal implementation plan to be forced upon states whose plans do not comply with the rule’s requirements.

“This is not the first time that some utilities and grid operators have cried wolf," Moore said. "Their warning is as misplaced as it is premature because EPA hasn’t yet issued its final rule.”