It may be a big year for energy regulations. The 114th Congress is just starting to gear up and Thomas Pyle of The Hill has already dubbed 2015 “Year of Energy.”
With issues such as wind Production Tax Credit, the Keystone XL pipeline and the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon dioxide rule for power plants just scratching the surface of what we’ll see this year, Pyle may be dead on.
Rebekah Fitzgerald, program manager for energy and environmental policy with The Council of State Governments, said the EPA’s proposal to cut 30 percent carbon emissions by 2030 will mean a different target for each state, thus a moving target for facility owners and managers. Another EPA rule will look at what waters will be protected under the Clean Water Act.
"Proposed EPA rules will continue to dominate conversation in both the environment and energy sector for state policymakers in the coming year," Fitzgerald said. "From multiple air quality regulations to water quality, the proposed rules are ushering in landscape-scale changes, particularly for the energy industry."
For building owners and managers, this can mean many different things. Will there need to be a shift in operations to meet new standards? Are you going to have to make new purchases? To help get a feel for what may be coming this year, Fitzgerald put together a list of the top five issues in environmental and energy policy to keep an eye on this year on CSG’s Knowledge Center site.