Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized four rules to reduce pollution from fossil-fueled power plants, requiring certain baseload coal and gas plants to limit emissions — possibly through the use of carbon capture and sequestration technologies — beginning in 2032.
- Environmental and consumer advocates say the new power plant rules will reduce pollution while incentivizing clean energy investment. Utilities, however, warn the rules are “unlawful,” rely on unproven technology for compliance and will threaten grid reliability and affordability.
- Meeting EPA’s emission standards is expected to require the use of CCS, but the technology is “not yet ready for full-scale, economy-wide deployment,” Edison Electric Institute President and CEO Dan Brouillette said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Senior administration officials say the power plant rules finalized today are in some ways more strict than what was initially proposed last year — though EPA determined in February that the new regulations would not cover emissions from existing gas-fired plants.
“What we're finalizing is equally as stringent, if not more,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Wednesday in a call with reporters.
For new natural gas plants, the final rule expands the definition of baseload plants to those operating above a 40% capacity factor, as opposed to the 50% initially proposed. While it allows an additional two years for power plants to comply with emissions restrictions, the final rule also contains changes to which plants are required to comply.
New gas plants and coal plants planning to operate past 2039 — as opposed to 2040 under the original proposal — will be required to meet a carbon dioxide emission standard equal to installing a carbon capture and sequestration system and running it at 90% efficiency, officials said. Compliance starts in 2032.
EPA also said it finalized a rule strengthening and updating the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for coal-fired plants, which tightens the emissions standard for toxic metals by 67% and includes a 70% percent reduction in the emissions standard for mercury from existing lignite-fired sources.
Two other rules will impact coal operations. EPA said it finalized a rule to reduce wastewater pollution by more than 660 million pounds per year, and another governing coal ash management that will expand oversight to some storage sites that were previously outside federal regulation.
“By developing these standards in a clear, transparent, inclusive manner, EPA is cutting pollution while ensuring that power companies can make smart investments and continue to deliver reliable electricity,” Regan said.
The new rules put the power sector on track to cut emissions by 75% in 2035, relative to their peak 30 years prior, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Utilities warned of the rules’ potential impacts, in part because they say CCS is not ready for widespread deployment.
“The path outlined by the EPA today is unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable,” Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, said in a statement. “It undermines electric reliability and poses grave consequences for an already stressed electric grid.”
NRECA said the rules violate the law, exceed EPA’s authority and mandate “the widespread adoption of technologies that are promising, but not ready for prime time.” Timelines are also unrealistic, the group said. “The rule gives neither existing coal units nor new gas units enough time to reach compliance.”
“This barrage of new EPA rules ignores our nation’s ongoing electric reliability challenges and is the wrong approach at a critical time for our nation’s energy future,” Matheson said.
Duke Energy, which serves about 8.4 million customers, said in a statement that the new power plant rules present “significant challenges to customer reliability and affordability – as well as limits the potential of our ability to be a global leader in chips, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.”
The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities, said it appreciated EPA’s work to align compliance deadlines in order to help power companies minimize costs, but has doubts about the timeline for using CCS for compliance.
“CCS is not yet ready for full-scale, economy-wide deployment, nor is there sufficient time to permit, finance, and build the CCS infrastructure needed for compliance by 2032,” EEI’s Brouillette said. “While CCS and other 24/7 clean energy technologies could be important tools for reducing emissions in the future, EPA’s record does not support a finding that CCS is demonstrated today.”
But EPA officials said the agency believes the technology is viable, particularly when considering incentives contained in the Inflation Reduction Act.
“We have engaged extensively with the industry and representatives from multiple power companies that have indicated that CCS is a viable technology for the power sector today,” Regan said.
The new rules for power plants “fit hand-in-glove with the clean energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act to make sure we cut our carbon footprint,” NRDC President and CEO Manish Bapna said in a statement. “The age of unbridled climate pollution from power plants is over. These standards cut carbon emissions, at last, from the single largest industrial source.”
