By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration said on Thursday it has finalized rules on carbon, air and water pollution from power plants, which it says could increase carbon emissions by more than 1 billion tons by 2047. decrease, even as the demand for electricity grows.
The Environmental Protection Agency has strengthened a proposal to reduce carbon emissions from existing coal and new gas-fired power plants, and updated and finalized long-standing rules to reduce mercury and toxic air pollutants and wastewater and coal ash discharges. clean up.
“EPA reduces pollution while ensuring utilities can make smart investments and continue to provide reliable electricity for all Americans,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.
Regan had said in 2022 that he planned to jointly adopt several regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, and to help states, utilities and plant operators make better decisions about investment and plant retirements .
The new rules come as electric utilities brace for a spike in demand from data centers that power technology like generative AI, and from the growth of electric vehicles.
The United States 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.
One of the changes the EPA has made to the carbon rule is removing hydrogen as a “best emissions reduction system” for gas-fired power plants to achieve new standards.
Now, only carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) can be used for the longest-running existing coal-fired power plants and new gas turbines that run more than 40% of the time. The EPA initially proposed that the standards apply to facilities that run more than 50% of the time.
The agency also said that coal-fired power plants that plan to continue operating beyond 2039 will be required to install CCS technology starting in 2032 in the final rule. It had initially proposed making CCS mandatory for installations that will be in operation after 2040.
The Edison Electric Institute, an investor-owned utility, said it appreciated EPA’s approach to bundling its various pollution regulations to ease compliance, but was disappointed that the agency did not heed its concerns about viability from CCS.
“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.
Regan told reporters the agency was confident in the technology, which was backed by tax breaks from the Inflation Reduction Act and support from “multiple energy companies.”
The agency also said it has launched a process to get feedback on how to reduce CO2 emissions from existing gas-fired power plants. The EPA last month removed coverage of existing gas plants from the original proposal and did not provide a new timeline for developing a rule for the current fleet.
The EPA also cut mercury emissions limits for lignite power plants by 70% and emissions limits related to toxic metals by 67%, the first update to that rule since 2012, while also finalizing measures that would end the 660 million pounds of pollution discharged per year. in America’s waterways and protect communities from coal ash pollution.
Environmental groups praised the rules, which together with the IRA will help reduce emissions from the energy sector, bringing the government closer to its target of net zero emissions in the sector by 2035.
“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.
“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.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Tom Hogue)
