Rural Issues: Power plants face new climate rules

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized its Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants. That rule calls for aggressive actions they believe will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from conventional power plants.

Who among us is not in favor of clean air? You will be hard-pressed to find someone who would raise his hand. The problem is the path that EPA has chosen to take in its effort to “get there.”

According to Jim Matheson, CEO for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the rule is “unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable.”

Starting in 2032, this rule requires baseload coal and gas plants to limit emissions equivalent to the use of carbon capture and sequestration technologies operating at 90% efficiency. Put in simple terms, by 2032 these plants must control 90% of their carbon emissions.

According to NRECA, baseload generation refers to power plants that provide a steady production of electricity to meet the minimum level of demand. Plants this rule covers would need to spend billions of dollars to comply.

And, according to Matheson, “no power plant has ever achieved 90% reduction in carbon due to carbon capture sequestration — the technology has not been proven at a commercial scale.”

Why should you care? NRECA believes these rules are unlawful and unachievable and will jeopardize reliable power in the United States.

The association says this rule violates the Clean Air Act because EPA asserts vast new authority of major economic and political significance without a clear statement from Congress.

NRECA states that this rule requires use of inadequately demonstrated technology. The association explains that carbon capture and storage, although a promising technology, is not yet widespread or commercially available.A

According to NRECA, the infrastructure it will take to meet EPA’s requirements is not in place currently and cannot be expected to be in place by 2032.

Finally, and most importantly to the 900 local electric cooperatives, 42 million Americans and 56% of the country represented by NRECA, EPA’s rule jeopardizes reliability on an already stressed electric grid.

A recent forecast from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said that over the next five years, all or parts of 19 states are at high risk of rolling blackouts during normal conditions.

Do you think your electricity bill is high now? Hold on to your hat.

Coal accounted for just 16% of U.S. electric generation in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In 1990, by comparison, it comprised more than 54% of power generation. However, some states are more reliant on coal power than others.

Caleb Jones, CEO of Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, says these rules will force premature closure of gas and coal plants and prevent building more in the future.

“These new standards are not only impossible to meet, but all but guarantee blackouts across our great country,” he says.

Did I mention the Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants is a 1,000-page tome?

For more information, go to the NRECA website, then contact your representatives in Congress and let them know how you feel about this rule.