The U.S. faces an “impending energy crisis” as the Biden administration pursues a transition away from fossil fuels, an electricity cooperative warned Wednesday.
Moon Lake Electric Association, which serves parts of Utah and Colorado, accused President Joe Biden of being “unrealistic” in his emissions reductions goals, according to Deseret News.
“It’s unrealistic and it’s too ambitious,” CEO Yankton Johnson reportedly said. “They need to pull back on the throttle, pump the brake and think about what they’re going to do to individuals.”
Johnson’s comments came after the Biden administration announced billions in investments for green energy. The president seeks to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, net-zero emissions in the economy by 2050 and 50 percent of new vehicle sales being electric by 2030, according to the White House.
His administration has also pursued regulatory activity through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Energy Department, some of which prompted resistance from members of his own party.
Johnson’s organization sent a letter June 15 calling on state and local officials to enact “common sense” policies and warning about “impending dangers to current standards of living, the nation’s economy and U.S. national security.” (RELATED: Over 480,000 Without Power During Heatwave)
The cooperative said “blackout conditions” were coming and noted a troubling disparity between demand and supply of affordable electricity.
“As the electricity deficiency progresses, it will result in higher cost of electricity to the ‘Average Joe’ domestically,” the letter read.
“In other words, those with greater financial means will be able to afford electricity while the less fortunate will have to go without — this crisis cannot be tolerated. The largely non-dispatchable nature of new generation resources also has great potential to result in grid instability and blackout conditions.”
Moon Lake’s letter pointed to “a growing trend of decommissioning many of the existing dispatchable power generation resources across the country without viable replacements.” The EPA, the letter said, was also “promoting the premature closure of numerous coal-fired power plants, that provide reliable, non-intermittent base load electricity to communities throughout the country, commencing in 2025.”
“Regionally, coal-fired power plant units located in (1) Craig, Colorado, (2) Hayden, Colorado, (3) Delta, Utah are all scheduled to decommission without any announced base load replacements with proven fuel stock.”
The administration expressed confidence in its energy ambitions as recently as Wednesday when it released a statement titled “Bidenomics Is Working.” (RELATED: Biden Brags About Killing Coal Plants As Grid Operators Warn Of Rolling Blackouts)
“The President’s agenda is strengthening our clean energy supply chains by spurring new and expanded U.S. factories, including more than 150 battery plants and 50 solar plants already announced,” the White House’s statement read.
“New data released just today shows the clean energy workforce added nearly 300,000 jobs in 2022 and clean energy jobs grew in every state in America, in part because of the investments in clean energy and manufacturing by the Biden-Harris Administration.”
Johnson’s cooperative also issued a declaration June 15 arguing the “current U.S. energy policy does not align with the interests of the American people.”