Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0708-0597
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2010-11-09T05:00Z

October 29, 2010

The Honorable Lisa Jackson
Administrator
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building (Mail Code 1101)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C.  20460

Re: 	Petition for Reconsideration of Portions of the Final Rule: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines

Dear Administrator Jackson:

I am writing in support of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's (NRECA) October 19, 2020, Petition for Reconsideration of portions of the Final National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines promulgated on August 20, 2010, (75 Fed. Reg. 51,570).  

Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) is a Generation and Transmission Cooperative headquartered in Le Mars, Iowa.  NIPCO provides power and various services to its 7 member cooperatives and municipals in western Iowa that covers 6,500 square miles.  NIPCO and its Member Systems have also had a very successful active load management system in place since 1983.  Over 50% of the 31,000 consumer-owners participate in this demand-side management program.  

If left in place, the EPA National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE NESHAP) rule will severely restrict and limit our ability to maximize efficient operations of our electric systems.  This ruling will also have negative power supply implications as we will be unable to operate our system as efficiently as we current do. This will increase our costs and ultimately our rates to the consumer-owners.  Along with other parts of our country, western Iowa struggles to meet the challenges of the downturn in the country's economy.  Unemployment is high, people are struggling to make ends meet and businesses are fighting to stay open.  This is certainly not the time to place additional burdens on them.

Distribution cooperatives, having no major electric generation facilities of their own, are concerned primarily with distributing electric power to their retail consumers.  They simply do not have the resources or a practical reason to keep track of and review the many EPA rulemaking activities under the Clean Air Act to see if one of these rulemakings may have an impact on their operation of delivering electrical power.  Without an outreach from EPA, which was absent in these rulemakings, these small entities could not anticipate that the proposed rule for emergency generators would undermine and destroy their very practical and highly successful peak shaving programs.
The bulk of the small emergency generating units, the subject matter of this petition, are owned by the rural consumer-owners of the electric cooperatives and not by the individual electric cooperatives.  These small emergency generating units are utilized in an efficient and productive manner for the benefit of their rural consumer-owners.  It is hard to understand and explain that the efficiency benefits derived from the use of these resources would be wiped out by a Federal Government that professes goals of increased energy efficiency and resource conservation. 

NRECA's petition addresses restrictions contained in the final rule that prohibit the use of small emergency generating units for peak shaving programs and limits demand reduction service beginning in 2013 without the addition of expensive emission reduction technology on units larger than a specified size.

To help operate our electric system more efficiently and maximize our power supply, our load management system includes a peak shaving program that uses the engines you will be regulating and restricting the use of.  Without the use of these back-up generators, the cost of power will increase as there will be no other cost-effective option to reduce our demand during peak usage times.  The added capital expenditures placed on our consumer-owner to make the required upgrades under this regulatory mandate places a very significant financial burden on them.  This may force us to cease future peak shaving demand side management program as they will no longer be cost effective for us or the consumer-owner to consider.  

We support the recommendation contained in NRECA's petition regarding removal of the restrictions on the use of these engines for peak shaving and demand reduction purposes in the 100 hours of non-emergency operations allowed in the rule.  The use of these engines up to 100 hours for non-emergency operation per year, as already allowed in the final rule, would not cause any additional emissions and therefore, no additional health risk or environmental harm above that already contemplated in the rule.  

In conclusion, NIPCO, its Member Cooperatives support protecting public health and the environment.  However, in this case the restrictions are unnecessary, too severe, will cause a significant detriment to our consumer-owners, and will not result in any meaningful environmental benefit.  We urge the agency to reconsider these restrictions on peak shaving and demand reduction contained in the final rules and amend the rules avoid diminishing the value of these programs and increase the cost of power to our consumer-owners.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me at 712-546-4141.  Thank you Administrator Jackson for your consideration of our request.  On behalf of our 31,000 consumer-owners, we express our desire you will respond favorably on this critically important issue.

Sincerely,

Kent D. Pauling

Executive Vice President and General Manager

cc: 	Robert Wayland
	Melanie King
	Kevin Bromberg, SBA