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EPSA Applauds NESCAUM Study On Harmful Impacts Of Dirty Diesel Demand Response Generators
EPSA Says Study by Independent Experts Validates Concerns Many Have Voiced to EPA, FERC and the Courts
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) President & CEO John E. Shelk released the following statement in light of the release today of an independent report from the highly respected Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) on the harmful impacts of uncontrolled back-up power generators masquerading as demand response resources in organized wholesale power markets. The report, Air Quality, Electricity, and Back-up Stationary Diesel Engines in the Northeast, is available at www.nescaum.org.
"Today’s well-researched report from the air directors of the six New England states, New York and New Jersey should serve as a blaring wake-up call to EPA, FERC and the courts. The report confirms what EPSA testified to at a recent EPA hearing on the pending proposal to exempt these dirty diesel generators from emissions regulations, namely that doing so would increase public exposure to harmful emissions while making it more difficult for states to comply with Clean Air Act emissions levels.
"EPSA agrees with NESCAUM that detailed information is lacking as to a full inventory of dirty diesel demand response generators and that without this information air quality planners cannot make a full assessment of the negative effects of demand response programs that rely on them. Policymakers and the public should be alarmed to learn that these demand response generators that EPA proposes to exempt from air emissions regulations emit ten times the nitrogen oxide rates of well-controlled coal-fired power plants. The NESCAUM report documents that even if these dirty diesel demand response engines only operate rarely, likely on the highest electricity demand days, their emissions occur at the worst time for public health and the environment.
"EPSA commends the NESCAUM report for offering a series of thoughtful recommendations. These include phasing out the worst emitters, requiring these dirty engines to be registered directly with air quality agencies and the relevant power grid operator, and requiring dirty demand response back-up generators that receive revenues from capacity markets to install appropriate pollution controls just as EPSA members must do to lawfully operate as power generation resources."
CONTACT: JOHN SHELK
(202) 349-0154or 703-472-8660
EPSA is the national trade association representing competitive power suppliers, including generators and marketers. These suppliers, who account for nearly 40 percent of the installed generating capacity in the United States, provide reliable and competitively priced electricity from environmentally responsible facilities serving global power markets. EPSA seeks to bring the benefits of competition to all power customers.