Republicans want to push EPA to review FERC input

OREANDA-NEWS. Congressional Republicans are trying to push the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to explicitly address concerns about how its regulations could affect power grid reliability, fuel diversity and energy infrastructure.

Republicans in both chambers of Congress yesterday debuted bills that would require all federal agencies to explicitly respond to grid reliability and resource adequacy concerns of major rules, defined as having annual costs of at least \$100mn or \$1bn. The bills would mostly affect EPA, as few other agencies issue rules with such high costs that also affect the US electric grid.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would have a key role under both bills in summarizing the reliability concerns of proposed rules. The agency issuing the rule would then be required to provide detailed responses to those concerns in the final version of the rule, which would make those responses subject to legal challenges.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) proposed her bulk power reliability bill yesterday as part of a package of energy legislation she hopes to move this year. A discussion draft of the other reliability bill was released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee that is chaired by representative Fred Upton (R-Michigan).

The legislative proposals reflect frequent criticism from some Republicans and industry groups that EPA lacks a formal process to consult with FERC on matters that affect the grid. Recently those concerns have centered on EPA's Clean Power Plan, which critics say was developed with minimal input from FERC despite the major shift it could cause for the grid and power markets.

The proposed legislation stands a better chance of drawing bipartisan support than the more disruptive bills Republicans have proposed on to EPA rules. The new bills would only require federal agencies to respond to reliability concerns but would leave it up to the relevant agency to decide what form those responses would take.