Rounds Applauds EPW Passage of ARENA Act

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, applauded the committee’s passage today of the bipartisan Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA). Rounds is an original cosponsor of the ARENA Act, which is the principal legislative vehicle in the Senate to roll back President Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” rule that was issued earlier this week.

“The President’s so-called ‘Clean Power Plan’ will result in higher electricity rates, fewer jobs and greater uncertainty surrounding the electric grid- all with little environmental benefit,” said Rounds. “It could also threaten the livelihood of South Dakota’s only coal-fired plant at Big Stone, which is already in the midst of a $400 million EPA compliance upgrade. The ARENA Act is a common sense solution that gives states additional time and flexibility to comply with new rules. It also protect taxpayers from bearing the brunt of the rule through higher electric bills. I’m pleased that it passed out of committee and look forward to debating the ARENA Act in the full Senate this fall. The American people are rightly frustrated with the administration’s continued regulatory overreach that is leading to fewer jobs, lower paychecks and less economic certainty.”

The ARENA Act, which takes into account EPA’s proposed regulations for both new and existing power plants, also requires EPA to submit to Congress a report describing the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions the “Clean Power Plan” is expected to reduce, and to conduct modeling to show the impacts of the rule on the climate indicators used to develop the rule.