AOER was hired to model and analyze the cost and reliability of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recently finalized carbon rules officially titled “New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units; and Repeal of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule.”
These new rules will set limits on greenhouse gas emissions for existing coal and new natural gas power plants. Our analysis found that EPA’s proposal would cost Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) $382 billion and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) $66 billion through 2055 and, if implemented, lead to devasting blackouts, especially in SPP.