Stricter regulation of on carbon dioxide and mercury emissions at electric power plants proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would cost Louisiana 16,240 jobs by 2030 and raise electricity prices by 22% over the same time frame, a new study says. All told, the regulations would cost the state economy $968 million over the next 15 years, according to the report by economists at Suffolk University’s Beacon Hill Institute.
“Price increases and job losses would reduce real income as firms, households and governments spend more of their budgets on energy and less on other items, such as home goods, entertainment and clothing. As a result, real disposable income would fall by $1.96 billion by 2030,” the Pelican Institute for Public Policy says in a policy brief highlighting figures in the report specific to Louisiana. “Annual investment in the state would fall by $256 million, although there would be increased investment in other electricity technologies.”
The Beacon Hill Institute report estimates the proposed EPA rules would cost the U.S. economy roughly $46.5 billion, and electricity prices would rise nationally an average of 12.8% in the next 15 years.
“Along with these significant costs, it is worth noting that the increase in electricity prices would disproportionately affect lower-income Louisianans who spend approximately 70% of their after-tax income on energy,” Pelican Institute President Kevin Kane says in a prepared statement.
See the complete Beacon Hill study, and the policy brief by the Pelican Institute.
