NRECA joins petition to Supreme Court to stay Clean Power Plan implementation

In the wake of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denying several requests to stay implementation of the Clean Power Plan until litigation against it is resolved, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) petitioned the Supreme Court to step in.

“EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] itself predicts the closure or curtailment — this year — of many coal-fired power plants that would remain online absent the rule,” NRECA Interim CEO Jeffrey Connor said. “If that doesn’t meet the judicial criteria for ‘immediate and irreparable harm’ required to trigger a stay, what does?”

The NRECA was joined in its petition by 29 states and state agencies. According to the association, electric cooperatives could face costs of up to $28 billion during the 2022-2030 compliance period.

“As not-for-profits serving 93 percent of America’s persistent poverty counties, electric co-ops are especially concerned about the significant electric rate increases this would impose on some of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens — families living on fixed incomes or in poverty,” said Connor. “Immediate and irreparable harm already is occurring — and will continue — unless the court halts the Clean Power Plan while separate litigation over its legality plays out.”