June 19, 2015
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative,

You will soon consider H.R. 2042, the Ratepayer Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Ed. Whitfield (R-Ky.), which would delay implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan for existing power plants.  On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to support this legislation.

EPA’s proposed rule relies on a rarely invoked provision of the Clean Air Act that authorizes the agency to set mandatory carbon dioxide (CO2) goals for each state’s electricity system.  The proposal would require states to submit detailed plans to the agency in 2016, and meet interim goals in 2020 and final goals in 2030.  States that do not submit a satisfactory plan would be subject to a federal plan imposed by the EPA, but such a plan has yet to be provided.

State governors, regulators, and electric reliability organizations have filed comments raising concerns about the legality of the rule, how it would be implemented, the impact on electricity costs, and the risks to the stability of the electric grid.  Legal challenges to the rule, which EPA plans to finalize this summer, have already been brought by at least 12 states.

H.R. 2042 would allow for timely judicial review by providing that no state would be required to implement a state or federal plan that the state’s governor, in consultation with other relevant state officials, determines would have a significant adverse effect on retail, commercial, or industrial ratepayers, or on the reliability of the state’s electricity system.

I urge you to support the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would help prevent the EPA from raising rates and threatening the reliability of the nation’s electricity.  All votes on H.R. 2042 will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2015 Congressional Ratings.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW