Analysis of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which calls for reducing carbon emissions from the nation’s power sector 30 percent by 2030, shows that it will not only jeopardize the reliability of the grid but cause significant jumps in electricity and natural gas prices.

Already, according to a recent 60 Plus poll, 88 percent of seniors worry about paying their electricity bill. The President’s plan will make already high energy costs far higher. And the burden will fall most heavily on seniors with fixed incomes and others that can least afford it. President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan is a mistake. Tell him affordable, reliable power has to come first.

The President’s plan will drive up energy prices:

By forcing out low-cost existing coal-fired power for more expensive alternatives, the President’s plan will produce a sharp rise in energy prices.

• Average U.S. household electric and natural gas bills are expected to increase $680 in 2020.
• The total cost of electricity and natural gas will rise to more than $750 billion per year in 2020.
• The nation will face an estimated $284 billion increase in electricity and natural gas costs in 2020, compared to 2012.

The President’s plan will damage the reliability of the electric grid:

Coal plants provide 40 percent of the nation’s electricity. By targeting coal generated power in his emissions mandate, the President might push the power grid over the edge.

• The plan, along with other EPA regulations, will force 25 percent of the nation’s low-cost, reliable coal-generation capacity off the grid.
• During the harsh winter of 2014, coal plants – many of which will soon be forced to close – met 92 percent of additional electricity demand.
• To replace the 14.8 GW of existing coal capacity forced off the grid, utilities will have to build 33.3 GW of natural gas combined cycle capacity and 8.4 GW of renewable energy capacity.

The President’s plan comes without benefits:

Despite the massive cost to Americans, the President’s carbon emissions plan will have little to no effect on global carbon emissions. Rising emissions from other nations, particularly developing nations in Asia, will overwhelm whatever emissions cuts we make in the U.S.

• According to recent analysis, the plan will reduce global concentrations of carbon dioxide by less than 1 percent and global temperatures by less than one hundredth of a degree.
• The plan will also have significant negative consequences, including poorer health from lost jobs and lower standards of living due to higher energy prices.

The President’s emissions mandate is a dangerous mistake. Click here to tell your elected officials to stand up to the Obama Administration and say no to the Clean Power Plan.