EPA Proposes Repeal of Power Plant Emission Rules

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to repeal federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants, arguing that doing so will lower costs for utilities and ratepayers and improve the reliability of the electric grid.

The draft rule would undo ambitious limits on carbon dioxide and other emissions put into effect during the previous Biden administration that require existing coal and new natural-gas power plants to mitigate 90% of their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2039. Fossil fuels are the largest contributor to global climate change, according to United Nations Climate Action.

However, the EPA release announcing the proposal states that “coal and natural gas power plants are essential sources of baseload power that are needed to fuel manufacturing and turn the United States into the artificial intelligence capital of the world.” The Trump administration-led EPA claims that because power plant emissions are global, not regional, potential health harms have not been “accurately attributed” to the power sector, and is proposing that greenhouse gas emissions from power plants do not contribute significantly to air pollution as defined in the Clean Air Act.

The EPA website does indicate that transportation and power generation are the two largest sources of GHG emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere.

The EPA said the repeal would save the power sector about $1.2 billion a year in regulatory costs. Stricter emissions limits and higher costs have contributed to a decline in the use of coal for power generation. In 2023, coal accounted for just 16% of power generation, according to the EIA. Coal production in 2023 was less than half of 2008’s total.

The president has recently issued executive orders aimed at boosting coal, by keeping in use coal-fired power plants that had planned to retire in order to maintain grid reliability. PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization that manages to the electric grid for 13 Mid-Atlantic states including Pennsylvania, is facing the potential of power shortfalls in the future as coal-fired power plants have been retiring, and new generation sources are not coming online quickly enough to replace that capacity.

At the same time, the demand for power is increasing after years of relative stability due to the rapid rise of energy-hungry data centers, as well as continued electrification of industry and vehicles. PJM estimates that 40 gigawatts of capacity from fossil-fuel fired power plants is expected to retire in the next five years, and is working on policy shifts to more rapidly expand capacity.

The dramatic shift in emissions policy drew criticism from a number of environmental groups, including the Clean Air Task Force, which argue that the proposed changes will harm public health and the environment. The draft proposal is almost certain to face legal challenges, making final approval uncertain.