Barrasso, Lummis Defend WY Energy & Grid Stability

June 9, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis (both R-WY) joined U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution seeking to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Good Neighbor Rule.

The Good Neighbor Rule would accelerate the Biden administration's mission to shut down Wyoming's fossil fuel power plants and weaken America's energy grids by increasing the usage of unreliable wind and solar power.

"The EPA's relentless war on American energy and industrial production knows no bounds. The EPA's Good Neighbor Rule seeks to sideline responsible, state-led efforts to control emissions in favor of a one-size-fits-all approach from unelected bureaucrats in Washington," Barrasso said. "This is bad policy that will lead to premature closures of power plants, limit industrial production, and increase prices for American families. This resolution protects states' rights and ensures states can continue being good neighbors without a bad Washington landlord from the EPA."

"The Biden administration's Good Neighbor Rule is shortsighted and dangerous," Lummis said. "The EPA's rush to implement this rule would prematurely shut down Wyoming power plants and cause great risk to our nation's energy security and grid reliability. This would cripple our ability to provide affordable, reliable baseload energy to power our nation. I am proud to stand with Senator Wicker and my EPW colleagues to work to block this rule."

The full text of the resolution can be found here.

Background:

• The Clean Air Act directs EPA to issue a federal plan to address pollution that significantly contributes to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone, or smog, formed from nitrogen oxide emissions traveling beyond certain states' boundaries.
• On March 15, 2023, EPA issued the final Good Neighbor Rule, which implemented federal plans for 23 states.
• Prior to this action, EPA denied 19 state implementation plans in order to pave the way for the federal implementation plans.
• EPA deferred action on Wyoming's state implementation plan until later this fall.
• The North American Reliability Corporation's (NERC) Summer Reliability Assessment painted a bleak picture of the impact of President Biden's green agenda on the west's grid reliability.
• The report put the west at elevated risk of "insufficient operating reserves in above-normal conditions."
• NERC said extreme heat events put the west at risk of an energy supply shortfall as it relies on regional energy transfers to meet demand at peak or when solar output is diminished.
• Limited operation of coal-fired power plants due to new environmental regulations was listed a leading cause for the energy shortfall.

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