Continuing our fight for the reduction of toxic air pollution from coal plants, Sierra Club has asked the Department of Energy to reconsider its decision to allow Dominion Energy’s Yorktown plant to keep burning coal in violation of the federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).
Over five years ago, EPA finalized long overdue public health protections that limit the amount of mercury and other toxic metals that fossil-fueled plants, especially those burning coal, can emit. Companies like Dominion therefore had significant lead time to figure out how to comply with the MATS rule. After receiving two separate one-year extensions on its obligations under the rule, Dominion still had not retrofitted the Yorktown coal units to comply with MATS nor put in place any plan to ensure reliability that didn’t entail burning coal at Yorktown. Meanwhile, PJM Interconnection, the company that operates the electric grid in Virginia and other mid-Atlantic states, expressed concerns that if other generators or transmission facilities unexpectedly went out of service during summer peak times, Yorktown’s coal-fired units would be needed to prevent Dominion from cutting service to certain customers in order to keep the grid running. PJM also told DOE that Yorktown would be needed to support the grid during construction of new transmission facilities, including the Skiffes Creek-Surrey line, at times when other components of the electric system might need to be shut off to allow for safe work on the lines.
PJM asked the Department of Energy to use its rarely invoked authority under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to allow the Yorktown coal units to run in violation of MATS, without being subject to Clean Air Act liability. The Federal Power Act gives DOE the authority to require units to run in times of “emergency,” which DOE’s regulations define as “an unexpected inadequate supply of electric energy.” (10 C.F.R. § 205.371.) This authority has been used only a handful of times, including after Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, and Sandy and during California’s energy crisis several decades ago. On June 16, 2017, DOE issued an order allowing Yorktown to run as needed for reliability during the next 90 days.
On July 13, Sierra Club asked the Department of Energy to reconsider its decision regarding the Yorktown units. Sierra Club made clear that it was not asking the Department to withdraw its order or shut Yorktown down. Instead, Sierra Club’s filing asks DOE to address the extent to which a situation created by inadequate planning can be regarded as an emergency in order to urge DOE to require PJM and Dominion to take immediate action to develop a Plan B to minimize the time that Yorktown runs in violation of MATS. The Club’s filing suggests numerous alternatives that DOE did not consider to ensure reliability, including demand response, storage, or distributed generation.
Sierra Club also observed that DOE’s order deferred to PJM and Dominion to develop a plan for when the Yorktown units would need to run, known as a dispatch methodology. Sierra Club argued that, given the extraordinary nature of DOE’s power to excuse a plant’s compliance with the Clean Air Act, DOE should play a more active role in determining when Yorktown needs to run than simply delegating the issue to PJM with no discernable guidance. Finally, the Club argued that DOE violated the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) by failing to evaluate the air and water impacts of its order, even though NEPA allows for alternative means of compliance in emergency circumstances where prior analysis of the environmental effects is not practical.
Shortly before Sierra Club filed its petition, PJM submitted its dispatch methodology for Yorktown to DOE. Whereas DOE’s order authorized Yorktown to run as needed during the upcoming summer season (for 90 days), it expressly declined to grant PJM’s request that the plant be authorized to run as needed to support construction of the transmission project (which Dominion has estimated could take 18-20 months, not counting delays associated with two lawsuits that have been filed against the project). Nevertheless, PJM’s dispatch methodology specifically describes when Yorktown can run to support such construction. Because that operation is not authorized by DOE’s order, Dominion would be subject to enforcement action for violation of the Clean Air Act if it operated the plant to support construction of the transmission project. To make our concerns clear and open a line of communication with Dominion about its intentions, Sierra Club sent Dominion a letter explaining our interpretation of DOE’s order and the PJM dispatch methodology.
Rather than respond to Sierra Club’s letter, Dominion has taken out several full page advertisements in local newspapers falsely charging the Sierra Club with attempting to shut off the power in Virginia during the summer heat. To be absolutely clear, Sierra Club has not asked DOE to prevent Yorktown from operating as needed to keep the power on in the North Hampton Roads region. Instead, Sierra Club has asked the Department to reconsider and refine its order to make sure that Yorktown truly runs only as absolutely necessary, and to take steps to address the reliability issues through alternative resources, so that there will be no reason to renew this order for another 90 days.
Virginians have already waited far too long for cleaner air due to the extensions that Dominion has received on MATS compliance at the Yorktown plant. Sierra Club’s objective is to bring about compliance with MATS at Yorktown as soon as possible by holding DOE to account, and making clear to PJM and Dominion that they must pursue alternative means to provide reliable service that do not result in dangerous levels of toxic air pollution from the Yorktown plant.