Senators urge EPA to extend power plant comment period - WDAM-TV 7-News, Weather, Sports-Hattiesburg, MS

Senators urge EPA to extend coal-fired power plant comment period

Most of us don't think twice before cutting on a light, or powering up our laptops. Electricity doesn't come from some magic generator in the walls of our homes; it comes from places like the J.T. Dudley Senior Generation Complex, one of South Mississippi's power plants. 

From boilers, to generators, to heat energy, there's a lot more to the industry than meets the eye.

There's a staff of employees that work in an operating room at the Moselle power plant 24/7, 365. The room is always occupied to have the units available to generate electricity at the time it is needed.

The Moselle power plant burns a fuel source to create heat energy, and furnace pipes are heated to create steam, but the Moselle power plant isn't the only thing creating steam. A group of senators recently signed a letter seeking time for public comment on the Environmental Protection Agencies' regulations on coal.

"It's some of the most affordable electric energy. If we close down coal plants because of these new regulations, it will affect jobs in the U.S.," said Lydia Walters, a Dixie Electric Power Association

They're asking for a 120 day comment period for the government's regulation of greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants. The comment period is set to end on June 2. During a seminar before the tour, some South Mississippi Electric representatives said the EPA's regulations could boost our power bills significantly.


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