This week, President Trump issued a sweeping Executive Order on energy policy.  This Order, entitled Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, may reverse several important environmental actions issued by the Obama Administration.  One item of particular interest is that the Order requires a review of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan

Seven years ago, the Democrat-controlled White House and Congress attempted to pass into law a new set of rules regarding carbon dioxide. The so-called “Cap and Trade” law was passed by the House, but failed to get enough votes in the Senate, and so it never made the President’s desk.  So in order to pass new rules on carbon dioxide, the Obama Administration chose an easier path – use authority presumed given to the EPA under the Clean Air Act (CAA).  From a couple of paragraphs in the CAA, the EPA issued a nearly 1,600 page set of rules.

Live by the pen, die by the pen. What one President does through executive action, another can, in theory, undo.  Many new energy policy rules in the past few years were implemented through Executive Branch interpretation of law.  Several of these interpretations were already being debated in the D.C. Circuit Court but now that debate may stall until the EPA issues new rules, which will likely take 2-3 more years, and would certainly be followed up with more lawsuits!

Wolverine may still face some form of carbon regulation in the future.  I think renewables and natural gas will continue to take market share away from coal plants.  Wolverine’s strategy of power plant asset diversity, fuel diversity and embracing renewables should keep us on the proper side of all the legal madness and churn that will likely result from this new Order.  The Wolverine Board and Members continue to support Wolverine as it makes strategic investments in 21st century technology, while other companies remain frozen in terror, hoping for certainty.  Certainty won’t come with this historic Executive Order, and while other companies’ assets age, I watch with pride as Wolverine and its members continue to invest in their futures and deliver reliable, clean, and competitive power for our member-consumers.