Exelon VP says EPA's proposed carbon rule achievable via voluntary compliance

Exelon Corp. Vice President of Governmental and Regulatory Affairs Joseph Dominguez told members of the U.S. Energy Association (USEA) on Thursday that those who oppose the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed carbon rule are on the wrong side of history.

Dominguez said the EPA’s proposal to cut carbon emissions at power plants can be accomplished quickly and economically through a voluntary compliance program that uses current market mechanisms to prioritize the use of emissions-free energy. Dominguez’s remarks were part of a keynote address at the 2015 USEA annual Membership Meeting and Public Policy Forum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Dominguez told the group that Americans are right to believe the power industry can cut pollution.

“As an industry, we have to offer ideas that focus on what we can achieve, not look for reasons why we can’t,” Dominguez said. “We believe there are options for reducing carbon on time without causing blackouts, soaring electricity costs or any of the other doomsday predictions.”

Dominguez wants the EPA to support the proposed Reliability Dispatch Safe Harbor, under which states could comply with the Clean Power Plan by imposing a cost on carbon emissions to make low- and no-emissions energy sources more competitive. The concept is widely supported by industry, environmental organizations and trade groups.