CEO DATELINE - Association: Biden clean energy timetable will be difficult to meet
CEO DATELINE - Association: Biden clean energy timetable will be difficult to meet
- February 11, 2021 |
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Walt Williams
President Joe Biden is calling for 100% of U.S. electricity generation to come from "clean" sources by 2035, but the head of the association representing electric utilities says that goal will be difficult for most power companies to meet.
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Speaking to Wall Street analysts Wednesday as part of an annual industry briefing, Edison Electric Institute CEO Tom Kuhn noted that carbon emissions by the U.S. power sector were at their lowest levels in 30 years. He also said EEI members were on course to reduce their carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.
However, Kuhn expressed some reservations about the timetable established by the Biden administration for transitioning away from most fossil fuels, according to the news site Bloomberg Green. That goal would be an "incredibility difficult situation to handle," he said.
"We have done some tremendous reduction in carbon emissions, and we will continue to do that," Kuhn said. "There are situations where we have to worry about the reliability and affordability of the system."
EEI is supportive of Biden's overall efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Other energy groups have expressed the same sentiments but been disappointed in some of the administration's actions in that regard, such as canceling the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and enacting a moratorium on new oil and gas drilling on public lands.
"Restricting development on federal lands and waters is nothing more than an ‘import more oil' policy," American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers said in a statement on the latter decision. "Energy demand will continue to rise—especially as the economy recovers—and we can choose to produce that energy here in the United States or rely on foreign countries hostile to American interests."
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