MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – State officials are still trying to determine how a U.S. Supreme Court ruling will affect Wisconsin power plants and their toxic chemical emissions.
On a 5-4 vote Monday, the justices ruled that the EPA did not consider business costs, when it first drafted regulations on mercury and other toxins from coal and oil-fired power plants. Those costs were considered later, when the EPA wrote standards for reducing those emissions by 90 percent.
However, the justices said that was too late.
Meanwhile, the EPA’s setback may only be temporary. Environmental observers say the rules will stay in place until a lower court can determine how business costs should be accounted for.
Bart Sponseller of the state DNR, said his agency is studying the court decision to see how it would affect companies and the state’s mercury pollution limits that were first adopted in 2004.
We Energies, the state’s largest electric utility, says all of its coal-fired plants have mercury controls except for the Presque Isle plant in Marquette Michigan.
The utility said a $9 million facility to cut mercury pollutants would be ready to go by early next year.
For now, CEO Kurt Bauer of the state’s largest business group hails the court’s decision. He said the EPA’s initial regulations would have driven by up energy bills for everyone in Wisconsin, due to the state’s reliance on coal-generated power.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
