Economic impact of new environmental rules on power systems

Summary form only given. In March in 2005, new regulations were implemented to control emissions from electric power plants. The Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) will control emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, and the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) will control, for the first time, emissions of mercury. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the key features of CAIR and CAMR and the environmental regulations that preceded them including state as well as federal regulations. The presentation focuses on how the provisions of CAIR and CAMR will affect emissions, the mix of electric generating equipment as well as the requirements for retrofits of pollution control equipment over the next 20 years. In addition, the presentation addresses how state environmental regulations, including those regulating carbon, are likely to influence the impacts of CAIR and CAMR. Moreover, the presentation will address how some proposals for controlling carbon at the federal level would affect emissions, the types of new generating plants that would be built, the requirements for pollution control equipment and emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury as well as carbon