The EPA is holding hearings in four cities across the country on the proposed new rules to cut carbon emissions.
The rules call for a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
One of the hearings will be held in Denver.
Abbie Krebsbach is the environmental director for MDU, and she plans to testify at the Denver hearing. She says one issue MDU will focus on is what she called an “error” by EPA in how it looked at carbon reduction goals in South Dakota. Krebsbach says EPA assumed that much of the electric generation from the Big Stone power plant would be transferred to a natural gas power plant. She says MDU doesn’t have an ownership stake in that plant.
"It's on a different regional transmission system," said Krebsbach. "EPA assumes Big Stone would reduce its generation by about two-thirds, and re-dispatch to this other unit that we don't own."
Krebsbach says EPA also assumes there haven’t been any efficiency improvements at the coal fired plant.
"Perhaps EPA doesn't realize all the work that we have done already," said Krebsbach. "And that should be recognized and reflected in the targets, so they're more achievable."
MDU says it is hoping EPA would consider allowing states to work together to reach regional solutions to carbon emission reduction.
"Our electric system has no state boundaries," said Krebsbach. "And we think regional cooperation will help minimize costs for our customers."
Basin Electric Power Cooperative is also pushing for states working together. Basin’s Chris VandeVenter says Basin and other utilities have customers in multiple states – and this creates issues with generation being in one state – and customers in other states. He says a great example of that is the Laramie River station in Wyoming.
"Three of the owners of that plant have no loads on Wyoming," said VandeVenter. "But all the carbon intensity of that plant is assigned to Wyoming."
VandeVenter will be testifying at the EPA hearing in Washington, DC -- to be held at roughly the same time as the Denver hearing.
"Understanding that each utility in each state has its own unique needs, and saying, 'EPA -- you're saying you want to give states the flexibility to do this. Let the states come up with solutions that are beneficial to the region, the utilities and the states themselves,'" said VandeVenter.
Basin’s Steve Tomac will be in Denver. And he says one of the issues he will bring up is how the new rules treat so called “renewable energy credits.”
"Do the wind credits follow the load, or do they stay in the state where the wind is generated, like the fossil fuels do?" said Tomac.
Basin will be asking the EPA for more time to comment on the proposed carbon reduction rules.
"EPA has already indicated they will be very, very reluctant to offer any additional extension on that," said Tomac. "But given the gravity of the situation, and the fact that Congress has failed to act on any solid energy policies, this is, in fact, the energy policy for the next 15 years. And I think that there are a number of issues out there that probably deserve more consideration."
