By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday announced final rules targeting carbon, air and water pollution from power plants that it said could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1 billion tons by 2047.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s rules are a crucial part of Biden’s broader agenda to fight climate change. According to the EPA, the electricity sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution.
“EPA reduces pollution while ensuring utilities can make smart investments and continue to provide reliable electricity for all Americans,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
The rules will effectively require coal-fired power plants and new natural gas-fired generators to install equipment over the next decade to capture emissions before they reach the atmosphere. That requirement could make emission-free alternatives such as solar and wind energy more attractive.
Electric utilities are bracing for a spike in demand from data centers that power technology like generative AI, as well as electric vehicles.
The U.S. is expected to add more electricity generation capacity this year than it has in two decades, with 96% of it coming from clean energy, White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi told reporters.
Environmental groups praised the regulations but were rejected by some conservatives who called it an unwarranted attempt to end the use of fossil fuels.
“The era of rampant climate pollution from power plants is over,” said Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican on the Senate Environment Committee, said she plans to introduce a resolution aimed at overturning the rules.
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“President Biden has inexplicably doubled down on his plans to shut down the backbone of America’s electric grid through unfeasible regulatory mandates,” she said.
The rule is one of several environmental initiatives the Biden administration has rushed to implement to help protect against a potential reversal if former President Donald Trump were to win the 2024 presidential election.
Agency rules completed and included in the Federal Register by May 22, 2024 will not be subject to the Congressional Review Act, a law that allows a new Congress to nullify recently adopted regulations with a simple majority.
CARBON ABSORPTION
One of the changes the EPA made to the carbon rule before it was finalized was to drop hydrogen as a “best emissions reduction system” for gas-fired power plants to meet the new standards. This leaves carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) as the technology of choice for fossil fuel plants to reduce emissions.
Existing coal-fired power stations that want to continue running until after 2039 will have to install such CCS technology from 2032.
The EPA had initially proposed that its standards would apply to facilities that operate more than 50% of the time. It extended this requirement to those who run more than 40% of the time.
The Edison Electric Institute, an investor-owned utility, said it was concerned about the rules.
“CCS is not yet ready for large-scale, economic deployment, nor is there sufficient time to authorize, finance and build the CCS infrastructure needed to achieve regulatory compliance in 2032,” said EEI- chairman Dan Brouillette.
The EPA also said it has launched a process to get feedback on how to reduce carbon emissions from existing gas-fired power plants. The EPA had last month removed coverage of existing gas-fired power plants from the original proposal and did not provide a new timeline for developing a rule for the current fleet.
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In addition to greenhouse gases, EPA rules cut mercury emission limits for lignite power plants by 70% and emissions limits related to toxic metals by 67%, in the first update to mercury and toxic air pollutant standards since 2012.
The rules would also stop the 660 million pounds of pollution dumped into U.S. waterways each year and protect communities from coal ash contamination, the EPA said.
TRANSFER
The U.S. Energy Department on Thursday unveiled additional measures aimed at making it easier for clean energy projects to connect to the electric grid.
The department said it will upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines over the next five years and has finalized a rule aimed at making federal permitting for new transmission lines more efficient.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the DOE would also spend more than $330 million to support a new 280-mile transmission line from Idaho to Nevada, which will bring 2,000 MW of transmission capacity to the west where transmission is overloaded.
“We’re giving more power to more people in more places, with the urgency Americans deserve,” she told reporters.
