Obama’s EPA Rules for Power Plants Will Hurt Everyone, Badly

The impending EPA rules on electric power plants will hit you hard. They will cause our electricity to go up, and will cost thousands of jobs in the state. They will lower incomes and make everything cost more. So says a new study just released by the Civitas Institute. Brian Balfour writes:

New rules by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) imposing unprecedented restrictions on electric power plants will drive up energy bills and cost North Carolina tens of thousands of jobs, according to a study conducted by the Beacon Hill Institute of Suffolk University and released by the Civitas Institute.

“These new rules forced upon the states by the Obama administration will unleash significant harm on the people of North Carolina,” said Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca. “Energy bills will rise dramatically and our economy will lose tens of thousands of jobs. These new rules will especially harm low-income households.”

A policy brief for the study analyzing the impacts on NC can be read here, and a more detailed analysis and explanation of the study’s methodology can be read here.

The study concludes that North Carolina will experience higher electricity costs and greater effects on energy reliability than most states due to its higher portion of electricity production coming from coal-fired power plants, which are especially targeted by the EPA.

The impact on North Carolina’s economy will be significant. The study found that:

• EPA rules will cost the North Carolina economy a total of $1.7 billion between 2015 and 2030.

• The state’s economy will lose 32,120 jobs by 2030.

• Real disposable income would fall by $3.5 billion per year by 2030.

• Electricity bills for residential ratepayers will increase by about $355 per year by 2030, and for industrial ratepayers by nearly $52,000 per year.

“North Carolina has always enjoyed lower than average electricity rates and a reliable grid. But with the combination of EPA regulations and the state’s renewable portfolio mandates, the Old North State will see a transition to higher costs and less reliable energy production,” De Luca said.

Read the article.