The board of directors of the leading national group of state utility commissioners unanimously passed a resolution this week strongly urging federal and state action to support deployment of carbon dioxide capture technology at power plants and use of that CO2 in enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) and the National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative (NEORI) lauds the action.
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC) resolution highlights the significant economic, energy production and carbon mitigation benefits of CO2-EOR and:
“supports States and groups of States developing financial and other policies that encourage the cost-effective use of CO2 from power plants for EOR;” and
“urges Congress and the Administration to support legislation and budget measures that provide assistance to the development and deployment of cost-effective carbon capture/EOR technology.”
The NARUC resolution also made a call to “Congress and the Administration to strongly and rapidly act on this resolution to increase the energy security of our nation, to reduce the dependence on unstable foreign oil sources, and to create high-quality jobs.”
NEORI members especially thank Kentucky Public Service Commission Chairman Jim Gardner for his leadership in introducing the resolution.
“This resolution underscores the need for the federal government to recognize the benefits of carbon capture for use in enhanced oil recovery and its essential role in enabling long-term, continued use of coal in an environmentally sound manner,” Gardner said. “This is important to me as a Kentucky official, and I appreciate the support of my fellow commissioners around the country.”
NARUC’s resolution represents the third prominent call from state officials for federal action on CO2-EOR in less than a year. Western governors approved a comparable resolution in June 2015 and the governors and state legislators of the Southern States Energy Board followed in September 2015 with their own resolution sponsored by Kentucky state officials.
NEORI participants welcome this recent groundswell of state support for federal financial incentives and other policy measures to accelerate deployment of CO2 capture at power plants and industrial facilities for use in EOR, a decades-old and proven commercial practice to increase American oil production from existing fields, while reducing emissions by safely and permanently storing the CO2 underground in the process.
Media Contact: Ben Finzel, 202-277-6286, [email protected]
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About NEORI: The National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative was formed to help realize CO2-EOR’s full potential to increase domestic oil production, promote job creation and economic development, reduce CO2 emissions, and drive innovation in carbon capture and storage technology. Convened by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and the Great Plains Institute (GPI), NEORI brings together a broad and unusual coalition of industry executives, labor representatives, environmental advocates and state officials.
