Basin Electric issues statement regarding EPA’s proposed greenhouse gas rules

Basin Electric issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed greenhouse gas rules, which were released May 11, 2023:

Basin Electric Power Cooperative utilizes an all-of-the-above energy strategy to reliably serve our 131 member cooperatives in nine states. Because Basin Electric serves areas of rural America that endure extreme temperatures and other variabilities, reliability is critical for commerce and basic survival.

While staff is still analyzing the recent EPA proposals and is evaluating what this means for the cooperative and our membership, we can already determine the proposed regulation attempts to force utilities into a decision to either install unproven technology on an unrealistic timeline that relies on infrastructure that is not yet available, or prematurely retire power generation facilities. Either option presents a threat to the affordable and reliable electric generation that Basin Electric provides its members – generation the cooperative continues to invest in.

Basin Electric has been a leader in decarbonization of the energy industry. Since 2005, Basin Electric has achieved a 30 percent decrease in its carbon intensity and is a participant in one of the world’s largest carbon sequestration projects – removing over 43 million tons of CO₂ since 2000.

Basin Electric is proud of the work that its members have put into reducing its carbon footprint, and the cooperative relentlessly continues to pursue additional reductions through diversification of its generation portfolio and investment in technologies such as carbon capture. The EPA’s proposed rules violate the EPA’s legal authority under the Clean Air Act and ignore technological reality. Basin Electric looks forward to continuing to work with state and local governments and the EPA to encourage the development of a balanced and reasonable final rule that cannot jeopardize affordability and reliability.