EPA’s Final Power Plant Regulations Called ‘Extreme’

(Dreamstime)

The Environmental Protection Agency, under the direction of President Joe Biden, released its final regulations for power plants on Thursday amid warnings from industry experts that the mandates will have a deleterious effect on the nation’s energy needs.

The agency claims the new rules, which were finalized under the Clean Water Act, Clear Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, will reduce air, water, and land pollution and “confront the climate crisis.”

“Today, EPA is proud to make good on the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision to tackle climate change and to protect all communities from pollution in our air, water, and in our neighborhoods,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement. “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 for all Americans.”

The final rules include that all existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired plants control 90% of their “carbon pollution” and implanting a 70% reduction in emissions for mercury from existing lignite-fired sources.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) responded by warning the administration that the increased regulations will strain the nation’s electric grid and test its reliability.

“We remain concerned that EPA’s final rule fails to properly consider grid reliability and the need for new natural gas plants to maintain that reliability,” said API Senior Vice President of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Dustin Meyer. “The administration should instead focus on removing barriers to building new generation capacity and fixing our broken permitting process to allow for the development of critical infrastructure — including carbon capture and hydrogen technologies — to keep the lights on for the American people.”

While demanding reduced carbon is one thing, implementing the process across an entire grid is another. Edison Electric Institute noted that the carbon capture and storage technology cited in the new rules is “not yet ready for full scale, economy-wide deployment.”

Other energy experts have warned that additional pollution regulations, coupled with ever-increasing electricity demands is not a tenable solution.

Michelle Bloodworth, President and CEO of the coal power advocacy group America’s Power, slammed the proposal, saying the EPA’s new rules are “an extreme and unlawful overreach that endangers America’s supply of dependable and affordable electricity.”

Bloodworth noted that “electricity demand is exploding because of AI data centers, electric vehicles, and new manufacturing facilities,” and as a result America needs “need more sources of dependable and affordable electricity such as coal-fired power plants, not fewer.”