On Wednesday, the Assembly and Senate energy committees held a joint informational hearing on EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan rule designed to lower carbon emissions from existing power plants. The committees heard testimony from the Department of Natural Resources, the Public Service Commission, Wisconsin utilities, Clean Wisconsin, and business groups.

Much of the testimony and questions pertained to compliance costs and the rule’s impact on Wisconsin ratepayers. Initial modeling from the PSC estimates that the rule will cost Wisconsin ratepayers between $3 and $13 billion between 2020 and 2030. Additionally, regulators and utility representatives are concerned about the rule’s steep “compliance cliff” that demands steep emission reductions in 2020.

Read Hamilton’s summary of EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan and find more resources and official stakeholder comments on Hamilton’s website.

Full coverage of the hearing is available from Wisconsin Eye.