A Pennsylvania coal advocacy group is claiming that coal-fired power plants can’t meet federal emission requirements, and residents are paying the price.

According to Pennsylvania Coal Alliance CEO John Pippy, restrictions from the Environmental Protection Agency are causing the shut down of coal-fired power plants that he thinks are still needed as a short-term solution for electricity demands.

Many Pennsylvania coal power plants are being replaced by cleaner energy solutions such as natural gas. However, during recent cold snaps a lack of natural gas caused prices for that commodity to spike in turn sending electricity prices soaring.

“Natural gas has a priority to home heating, so when its very cold like it was the last couple weeks there wasn’t actually enough natural gas to cover some of the power plants and there were some significant issues,” said Pippy.

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