Comment period ends Aug. 8 on proposed EPA greenhouse gas regulation

New regulations out of Washington, D.C. are threatening Basin Electric’s ability to provide affordable and reliable electricity to our member-owners. These proposed regulations will significantly impact Basin Electric’s ability to supply reliable and affordable electricity to our membership.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting comments through Aug. 8 regarding these regulations.

The proposed regulations:

• Require the use of carbon capture and hydrogen technologies that are not yet commercially viable or affordable
• Require these unviable technologies to be implemented on an unreasonable timeframe
• Would force the premature closure of dispatchable generation
• Make it harder to permit, site, and build new dispatchable generation

Basin Electric will be submitting technical comments about the impacts of these proposed regulations on our electric generation portfolio.

Anyone can submit a comment online through an online platform launched by the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA). The nationwide grassroots activation against the proposed regulations is called Voices for Cooperative Power (VCP). VCP is a network of electric co-op members who work together to influence government proposals and policies that affect electric co-ops.

Basin Electric is sharing content developed to spread awareness of VCP on Basin Electric's social media channels. Once a user signs up on VCP, notifications keep the user up-to-date on these regulations.