Here’s some unexpected ammunition for U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly’s battle against federal coal regulations: The Obama administration’s coal policy imposes a disproportionate negative impact on black households, according to a new study.

The study looked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed new rules on carbon dioxide emissions for existing coal-fired electric plants. The EPA’s Clean Power Plan, established by an executive order from President Barack Obama, sets state-specific targets for CO2 emissions from power plants to be 30 percent lower than 2005 levels by 2030.

The regulations will significantly increase electricity prices, especially in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio that rely on coal-powered electricity.

The higher costs will fall most heavily on lower-income families and especially on African-American households, according to the study by the Pacific Research Institute, a conservative San Francisco think tank.

The study used census data for neighborhoods and income to look specifically at the impact on Ohio residents. Under EPA’s new regulations, the average annual electricity cost would rise from 2.9 percent of the average Ohio household’s income to 3.8 percent.

But that’s just the average. The increased cost burden varies greatly depending on income levels, with the proposed EPA regulations increasing the burden on lower-income neighborhoods more than on upper-income neighborhoods, making the burden from electricity costs more regressive, the study’s author, Wayne Winegarden Ph.D., concludes.

For the average African-American household, average annual spending on electricity would rise from 4.5 percent to 5.8 percent.

Lower-income African-Americans would bear an even larger burden. Households in lower-income African-American neighborhoods would be hardest hit with the cost of electricity equaling 26 percent of household income, or even higher, according to the study.

In contrast to the average and lower-income households, higher-income households would be least affected. For example, in parts of the predominantly white, upper-middle class Clermont County, the average household electricity cost would rise from 0.8 percent to 1.1 percent of household income — a relatively small increase compared to the state-average household.

The study presumes that existing coal-fired power plants will remain in operation — an erroneous presumption since, as Kelly pointed out Saturday in his Republican Party weekly national address, two coal-fired plants in his Third District already have shut down in the past two years, and hundreds more could close nationwide. Taking coal plants offline would push electric costs higher yet, and likely at a disproportionately even higher burden for lower-income black households.

Finally, with a decreasing domestic demand, U.S. coal producers likely will increase exports to China and other nations unburdened by EPA regulations. A recent U.S.-China agreement commits China to freeze CO2 emissions and generate 20 percent of its electricity from noncarbon sources in 2030.

But for the next 16 years, China is free to burn as much coal as it can mine, and buy. And so until 2030, at least, the net impact on global CO2 emissions will be minimal.

It certainly wasn’t Obama’s intention to saddle blacks and low-income populations with a disproportionate share of rising regulatory costs, but in governing intentions frequently fall short of the outcome — and this outcome bolsters Kelly’s call for the continuation of coal-fired energy.

It makes more sense to keep coal in the U.S. energy lineup for the next 16 years, preserving jobs and affordable energy, as we develop new and cleaner power in the decades ahead.