The dirt on the EPA's new clean energy credits

The Environmental Protection Agency's latest brainchild to help states make the switch from fossil fuels to more solar and wind may be too costly to be of any benefit to states. It also raises new questions over the agency's attempts to circumvent the law, with an increased chance of fraud to boot, some utilities say.

The Clean Energy Incentive Program, or CEIP, is the agency's latest attempt to coax states into complying with its much bigger program, the Clean Power Plan, which critics argue will raise energy costs and make the electrical system less reliable.

Most people know the Clean Power Plan. But the incentive program was not made public when the Clean Power Plan was drafted more than a year ago. Instead, it came out when the rule was finalized in August.