June 23, 2015

House expected to pass bill against EPA's power-plant rules

The House this week is expected to approve a bill that would allow states to opt out of emission rules for power plants that are at the center of President Obama's climate change agenda.

The bill, the Ratepayer Protection Act, was passed by the Energy and Commerce Committee in April and will move to the floor Wednesday to be passed ahead of the July 4 holiday recess.

"I'm hopeful for a strong bipartisan vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act to protect hard-working Americans across the country from higher electricity prices and threats to electric reliability," said the author of the bill, Ed Whitfield, R-Ky.

The GOP is strongly opposed to the power plant regulations, seeing it as regulatory overreach by the Environmental Protection Agency that would raise the cost of energy for struggling consumers with very little to show in the way of environmental improvements.

The House bill would allow states to opt out of compliance with the EPA's greenhouse gas rules for existing power plants, if they can demonstrate that compliance with the rules would raise electricity prices or threaten the reliability of the electric grid.

"EPA's unprecedented proposal threatens serious economic harm to the American public and this common-sense legislation will protect ratepayers, reflecting our commitment to jobs growth and affordable energy," Whitfield said.

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