Easing of EPA rules good news for NPPD customers, for now

Coal-fired power plants like NPPD’s Gerald Gentleman Plant should remain viable for a while longer, thanks to a Trump administration plan to roll back Obama rules that would have imposed expensive emission restrictions.

Now that Scott Pruitt, who as Oklahoma attorney general sued the EPA over emission standards, is now head of the agency, states will be given broad authority to decide how to restrict carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Trump’s administration has taken steps to reverse Obama-era rules shifting power away from coal and toward natural gas, wind and solar power, and to bolster nuclear power plants.

The administration also has plans to roll back car mileage standards and pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

Retiring coal and nuclear power plants harm the nation’s power grid and reduce its resilience, Trump’s people say.

The Supreme Court already derailed the Obama plan, which was designed to cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions to 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and dictated specific emission targets for states based on power-plant emissions.

Critics say Trump’s plan will make no significant reduction in greenhouse gases, and will probably make emissions worse.

Market factors such as lower-priced natural gas, thanks to fracking, lower-priced solar and incentives to create wind power, have already started the shift away from coal to renewable energy, and that trend should continue.

But the easing of rules that would have artificially and quickly made energy bills higher is good news for Nebraska electricity customers.