Complicated and contradictory.
That’s how one member of the North Dakota Public Service Commission is describing the new emissions rules from the EPA.
"We find ourselves in a situation where these regulations are coming out, and they're not even understood," said Commissioner Randy Christmann. He says companies and regulators are trying to get their heads around the nearly 700 pages of regulations.
"It seems that there are conflicting things in those 700 pages," said Christmann. "There are a number of unclear things, and people who work in the industry are shaking their heads and struggling with figuring out how to interpret it all."
Commission chairman Brian Kalk says he's most concerned about how the new rules will affect the reliability of the electric grid. Kalk says this comes as demand for power is growing in North Dakota.
"And it's not just for energy development," said Kalk. "Fargo is growing, too. We approved the CapX 2020 line going into Fargo. Grand Forks is growing, too. So it's the entire state."
Commissioner Julie Fedorchak says it’s not just population growth. She says coal-fired electric generation becomes very important in cold weather.
"Almost all of the nation's coal fleet was running at full capacity this winter," said Fedorchak. "Many of those plants are scheduled to be shut down in the next year. Where do we turn next year if we don't have those coal resources?"
Fedorchak says coal is reliable -- and the plants are easy to fire up.
The new rules say emissions from coal-fired power plants have to be reduced by 30 percent by the year 2030. In North Dakota, the rules call for an 11 percent reduction. But Christmann says he doesn’t think it will stop there.
"There are people who atre trying to move the ball further," said Christmann. "So I don't think this is a target or goal that's going to stand long-term. It will continue to change."
The PSC plans to hold a reliability summit in Fargo later this year.
