On April 16, American Action Forum (AAF) released a report noting that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) power plant regulations could eliminate one-fifth of coal-based power plants and cost nearly 80,000 energy jobs. Today’s Top 5 Things To Know will take a closer look at the research conducted by AAF.
- This Summer, The EPA Will Issue Its Final Rules For The Clean Power Proposal Seeking To Reduce Overall Carbon Emissions From Existing Power Plants By 30 Percent By 2030. According Kenneth Hill, who’s recent Op-Ed appeared in The Wall Street Journal, “the Clean Power Plan aims to reduce overall U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions by 30% from 2005 levels by 2030. Each state must cut its emissions by a different amount, ranging from an 11% reduction in North Dakota to 72% in Washington, using a baseline established by the EPA.”
- Looking At EPA Data, AAF Determined At Least 93 Power Plants Would Close Due To The Proposed Rules. According to the AAF report, “AAF used the 49 GW figure and EPA’s eGRID data to find the least efficient affected power plants, as measured by heat rate and pounds of CO2 emitted per megawatt hour (CO2/MWh). Anticipating that the least efficient coal facilities are most at risk for closure, AAF identified the 93 least efficient power plants that produced about 50 GW of power.”
- EPA Predicts That If States Only Adopt Two Of The Three Proposed Power Plant Rules, 80,000 Energy Jobs Will Be Lost. AAF reported, “EPA predicts that if states adopt only options one and two of the administration’s plan for power plants, 80,000 energy industry jobs will be lost to EPA climate regulations. For perspective, 80,000 jobs is larger than the population of Napa, CA. But this is only the first part of the story. EPA never quantifies the secondary employment effects of these lost jobs.”
- A 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers Study Showed Every Energy Job Supports 3.7 Additional Jobs And Thus The EPA Rules Could Potentially Lead To 296,000 Lost Jobs. According to AAF, “A 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that one energy job supports 3.7 additional jobs. Using a jobs multiplier of 3.7, applied to the 80,000 lost jobs that EPA concedes, yields about 296,000 lost jobs across the U.S. To put the figure of 296,000 lost jobs in context, the average annual pay in the ‘fossil fuel electric power generation’ industry is $103,645 and the average coal mining salary is $82,068. This means that by 2030, the economy could lose $27.7 billion in wages, larger than the GDP of Jamaica.”
- Based Off AAF’s State Analysis, Texas, West Virginia And Kentucky Will Experience The Highest Amount Of Jobs Lost. According to the report, Texas will experience 36,515 jobs lost and three power plant closures. West Virginia will see one power plant close and 35,634 jobs lost, while Kentucky will see one coal plant close and experience 21,185 jobs lost.
