Tampa, FL \u2013 Today, Thursday, January 21st, Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc. (Seminole) filed comments with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in regard to implementing the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP).<\/p>\n
\u201cSeminole continues to believe that the Clean Power Plan will threaten the reliability and affordability of our Member\u2019s electricity,\u201d said Seminole CEO Lisa Johnson. \u201cWe have challenged the Clean Power Plan in Federal Court, and asked that the enforcement of the rule be stayed, or paused, until we know that it will survive legal challenge. Seminole should not have to make the kinds of decisions that would cost our members money, or our employees their jobs, without certainty that those decisions are based on sound, legal requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without specific fixes in the proposed federal plan for implementation, those who can afford it the least would pay the most for the negative effects of the Clean Power Plan.<\/p>\n
Lisa continued, \u201cApproximately one-third of Seminole\u2019s residential customers have household incomes below the poverty level. The Seminole Generating Station, our primary power plant, employs three hundred individuals in rural Putnam County \u2013 a county that was rated by USA Today in 2015 as the poorest county in Florida. This plant, one of the cleanest coal-fired facilities in the world, does not meet the emissions rate requirements of the Clean Power Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seminole\u2019s comments zone in on one issue in particular, that the Clean Power Plan has the potential to turn Seminole\u2019s primary generation facility into a stranded asset, and that as a small entity, Seminole does not have the same ability as larger utilities to absorb this loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Seminole Generating Station is financed through 2042, and it has a professionally rated useful life through 2045,\u201d said Lisa. \u201cThe plant could close without additional compliance time or other consideration. Our Members, and their Member-Owners, would have to continue to pay for a plant that is either closed or operating at reduced capacity, while also paying for a new source of electricity. The poorest county in Florida would lose its largest property tax payer, and one of its largest employers. The rural Members and communities that we serve should not be forced to bear the brunt of the costs of this plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Highlights of Seminole\u2019s Comments:<\/p>\n