Published: May 18, 2023 |

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Rich Nolan, NMA president and CEO
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The National Mining Association (NMA) issued the following statement from Rich Nolan, NMA president and CEO, responding to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2023 Summer Reliability Assessment which finds that two-thirds of the country is at elevated risk of outages should we see widespread heat weaves this summer. Further, NERC points directly to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Good Neighbor rule as restricting the operation of coal and gas plants in 23 states.

“This assessment is another clear warning that large swaths of the country face the very real threat of blackouts should the weather not cooperate this summer. The nation is increasingly short of the dispatchable capacity it needs to maintain resource adequacy during periods of peak demand. Hoping that the weather cooperates to avoid catastrophic consequences for American families can’t be an acceptable status quo.

As this assessment underscores, EPA’s regulatory blitz is already threatening the reliable delivery of power and undermining efforts to tame energy-driven inflation. The nation is firmly in a grid reliability crisis that will only grow more acute if EPA continues to drive an agenda that forces the closure of the essential generating capacity that underpins grid reliability before reliable alternatives, and their supporting infrastructure, are in place. With rising electricity demand a new reality — driven by electrification — we should be building on the shoulders of our existing coal fleet, not imposing a suite of mandates to tear it down.”

America’s mining industry supplies the essential materials necessary for nearly every sector of our economy — from technology and healthcare to energy, transportation, infrastructure and national security. The National Mining Association (NMA) is the only national trade organization that serves as the voice of the U.S. mining industry and the hundreds of thousands of American workers it employs before Congress, the federal agencies, the judiciary and the media, advocating for public policies that will help America fully and responsibly utilize its vast natural resources. We work to ensure America has secure and reliable supply chains, abundant and affordable energy, and the American-sourced materials necessary for U.S. manufacturing and economic security, all delivered under world-leading environmental, safety and labor standards. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the NMA has a membership of more than 250 companies and organizations involved in every aspect of mining, from producers and equipment makers to service providers.

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