By Erica Peterson/KPR
Frankfort, KY – The federal government is set to finalize long-awaited standards regulating power plant emissions tomorrow. The air toxins rule would require utilities to drastically reduce the amount of mercury, arsenic, chromium and nickel emitted from power plants over the next three years. The EPA estimates about 525 power plants, mostly coal-fired, will be affected by the rule. Many power utilities have lobbied against the regulations, saying they'll be bad for business. Betsy Janes of the Lung Association of Kentucky says that's an argument she's heard before.
"In every policy area that we work in, we always hear industry cry that the regulations that we support are going to damage the economy, that it's going to harm business, that it's going to lose jobs but it never comes out to be true," she says.
Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities were just approved by the Public Service Commission for environmental upgrades, which they say will allow them to meet the EPA's deadline for compliance.