The Mountain View Electric Association held its annual Lamplighter Dinner Oct. 29 at the Creekview Grill in Falcon. Environmental Protection Agency rules and Colorado State legislative actions were the main focus of the presentation by Jim Herron, chief executive officer.ìThe EPA Clean Power Plan is going to have a serious impact on electrical utilities,î Herron said. ìBack in 2008, then Sen. Barack Obama was asked about replacing coal-fired generation capacity. His comment was if someone wanted to build a coal-fired power plant they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them. But everyone here in this room understands that the cost is going to go on to the end users and the rate payers.îThe EPA’s new proposed regulations go further to impact existing power plants, not just potential new construction, Herron said. ìThis is 1,600 pages of new regulations with lots of layers, and not everybody understands it,î he said. ìBut the whole idea is to have a 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, based on the 2005 level, by 2030.îElectricity makes up about 40 percent of total carbon emissions, with transportation emitting another 30 percent, Herron said. ìBut those guys are a very mobile source and hard to catch. As far as electricity is concerned, we’re a large profile, a stationary unit and easy to catch; so we’re an easy target for new regulations being tossed out there.îThe EPA website states the plan will save $93 billion in health care, eliminate 6,600 premature deaths and reduce asthma attacks in children.Herron described four building blocks the EPA plan sets down to reduce carbon footprint, including a mandate that individual homeowners reduce their electrical use by 1.5 percent per year. ìWe feel they’ve gone way outside the fence on this one,î Herron said. ìYou can see these are very significant, dramatic, vary state-by-state; and it’s really too early for Tri-State, Mountain View or any utility to tell what the impact is going to be on the utilities or the end consumer. However, we feel that it is going to be pretty substantial.îHerron said converting coal plants to natural gas would significantly impact the amount of natural gas used in the state.About 31 states have taken some sort of action against the EPA plan, whether filing lawsuits against the federal agency or voting to express opposition, Herron said. Colorado has not taken any action on the issue.Regarding local cooperative issues, Joseph Martin, president of the cooperative board, said that capital credits will be returned to newer members instead of the traditional 15-year rotation. ìA lot of our area has a high amount of turnover with the military, and people don’t stay on the system for 15 years,î Martin said. ìBy adding a three-year cycle for capital credits, we can pay out to the newer and younger members so they understand what it means to be part of a co-op.î
