The West Virginia Public Service Commission is pushing back on proposed federal rules for power plants that burn coal and natural gas.
In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule requiring power plants to curb their carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent or more.
They could achieve this with carbon capture and storage or by fueling with clean hydrogen.
Neither of those things can be done right now, and they are prohibitively expensive, PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane wrote in her comments to the EPA.
Lane also wrote that the proposed rules exceed EPA’s authority and that the closure of large numbers of coal and natural gas-fueled power plants would threaten grid reliability.
Public comment on the new power plant rules ended Tuesday. Court challenges are likely should the EPA move forward with its latest plan.