Seventy percent of U.S. utilities support implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan as is or in an even more assertive form, according to industry news source Utility Dive’s annual State of the Electric Utility survey.
“Last year’s Utility Dive survey found utility executives were largely at peace with the regulations, with 62 [percent] of respondents indicating they thought the EPA should maintain the policy as is or make it even more aggressive. A year later, the sector appears even more comfortable with the now-finalized Clean Power Plan, with 70 [percent] now saying the policy should be maintained or be made more aggressive,” the survey says.
Of the minimum of 300 survey respondents, 17 percent said EPA should reduce emissions reduction targets and timetables for the rule, which once implemented would require states to develop action plans to meet state-specific carbon emissions reduction goals. The remaining 13 percent of respondents said EPA should scrap the plan altogether. “Opposition to the Clean Power Plan was strongest among respondents from electric co-ops, with 32 [percent] of those respondents indicating they would want the plan thrown out entirely and 29 [percent] wanting emissions standards and timetables lessened,” according to the survey.
This debate may be moot as the Supreme Court on Feb. 9 voted to stay the rule pending the conclusion of a legal challenge. Under the stay, the rule is unlikely to be implemented until mid-2017 or 2018, assuming it survives.
The survey also found that only 20 percent of respondents listed the Clean Power Plan among the top three most pressing challenges for their utility. The most challenging issue selected by respondents was an aging workforce.
