Via Daily Energy Insider:

Members of the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) recently issued statements applauding U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s actions to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.

“The EPA’s Clean Power Plan was all pain no gain for Montana,” Commissioner Tony O’Donnell said. “The draconian emission’s reductions specified in the plan would have created substantial hardship for Montana families in the form of higher electricity rates and lost jobs without achieving any meaningful reduction in global C02 levels. I applaud Administrator Pruitt for putting an end to this misguided and failed experiment.”

Commissioner Roger Koopman additionally praised the rollbacks and questioned the climate science the Clean Power Plan was based on.

“Pulling back the Clean Power Plan is exactly what we need right now, while we lower the emotions and decibel levels of this discussion,” Koopman said. “In final analysis, we may discover that the altar upon which the previous administration was prepared to sacrifice our security and quality of life was grounded on fundamentally false assumptions about the sources and net effects of CO2.”

Commissioner Bob Lake said that while the decision by Pruitt would be beneficial for coal plants, their future was still uncertain.

“It’s too early to tell what effect this decision will have on the market for coal power, but the Clean Power Plan was a major factor driving the accelerated closure of coal plants in the West,” Lake said. “There are many challenges ahead for the coal industry, but this decision will ensure that generators of all fuel types have the opportunity to compete to serve customers without the thumb of the federal government on the scale.”

See the article here.