A big financial hit for the Clean Power Plan? Study claims price hike in 47 states

Critics of the Environmental Protection Agency‘s Clean Power Plan say the new regulation will cost up to $292 billion and potentially raise electricity prices in 47 states.

“States should be braced to pay higher costs,” said Laura Sheehan, senior vice president for communications for theAmerican Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. “Consumers only lose in the Clean Power Plan.”

The numbers came from NERA Economic Consulting, a firm based in Boston that said it used state-of-the-art economic modeling to get its results.

In an email to Watchdog.org, EPA officials disagreed with the NERA study, which was funded by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, which is dead-set against the Clean Power Plan.

“EPA has not reviewed this report,” the agency email said. “EPA’s extensive analysisshows that the CPP is effective, achievable and affordable.”

EPA has estimated the CPP will cost $8.4 billion but will deliver climate and health benefits worth an estimated $34 billion to $54 billion per year in 2030.

But NERA’s numbers say the costs will be much higher by the time the CPP is fully effective — between 2022 and 2033.

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