Clean Power Plan Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

EPA Foes Vow To Block Power Plant Rules. It May Not Matter

Regardless of whether the rule stands or falls, the standards it sets could happen anyway.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants Thursday, and the reaction from state officials was swift.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said he’d take the case to court. Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said she’d introduce a repeal resolution in the Senate. Democrat Joe Manchin, who’s not running for re-election, said he’d support her measure.

Regardless of whether the rule stands or falls, the standards it sets could happen anyway.

Morrisey was successful in his bid to block President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with him in West Virginia v EPA two years ago.

The policy never took effect. But as Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis for the Natural Resources Defense Council, points out, the goals it set were met, and earlier than planned.

“That was also a rule at that time, there were concerns about whether or not the power sector would be able to achieve it, and it ended up achieving those standards 11 years early, even though the rule was stayed,” she said.

Now, as then, critics of the rules, including some in the electric power sector, say they can’t be achieved. Manchin points to the 2021 winter storm in Texas that caused deadly power outages.

“We saw what happened in Texas, how many people’s lives were lost, how much was disrupted in the economy, went to heck in a handbasket down there when their gas lines froze up.” he said.

The failures in Texas, and more recently in the eastern United States in late 2022, were mostly of fossil fuel infrastructure, especially natural gas. Renewables and battery storage helped hold the Texas power grid through last summer’s heat.

Levin says the new EPA rules come at a time when electric utilities are rapidly building wind, solar and battery storage. They’ve already surpassed coal and even nuclear.

“Clean energy sources are now the cheapest and fastest growing source of new power generation,” she said.

Even West Virginia is building more solar and will soon begin building storage batteries.

Mon Power activated the largest solar facility in the state in January in Monongalia County and is building another one in Harrison County.

Form Energy is building a long-duration storage battery plant in Weirton. Other companies coming to West Virginia, including steelmaker Nucor, wanted access to renewable power.

Phil Moye, a spokesman for Appalachian Power, which operates three coal plants in West Virginia, says the company is looking at the EPA rules to see how they affect plant operations and future investments.

“The development of new dispatchable generation resources and storage technologies will be critical in determining how quickly the industry can meet the requirements of the new rules,” he said.

Appalachian Power is an underwriter of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

EPA To Require Coal And New Gas Power Plants To Cut Emissions

The power plant rules align with changes that have been happening in the sector in the past decade. Electric utilities have moved sharply away from coal, largely switching to natural gas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday rolled out its final rules to cut emissions from existing coal-fired and new gas power plants.

Those plants will have to ultimately cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent or shut down.

The new rules include updated limits on mercury and other toxic pollutants from plants that burn coal. They also include changes to how power plants dispose of the wastewater that results from treating coal emissions to remove toxic pollutants.

Finally, the rules require the cleanup of coal ash disposal sites that were closed prior to 2015.

“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,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

The power plant rules align with changes that have been happening in the sector in the past decade. Electric utilities have moved sharply away from coal, largely switching to natural gas.

“This year, the United States is projected to build more new electric generation capacity than we have in two decades – and 96 percent of that will be clean,” said White House Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi.

Renewables such as wind and solar account for an increasing percentage of power generation and have surpassed coal.

Still, fossil fuel producing states, and some industry groups, are expected to challenge the new rules. Some will argue that the rules will have a negative economic impact on power plant communities. Others will say the rules will make the power grid less reliable.

“We will be challenging this rule,” said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in a statement issued soon after the new rules were published. “The U.S. Supreme Court has placed significant limits on what the EPA can do—we plan on ensuring that those limits are upheld, and we expect that we will once again prevail in court against this out-of-control agency.”

Morrisey, who’s running in West Virginia’s Republican primary for governor, led a successful challenge of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. The Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v EPA two years ago constrained the EPA’s rulemaking process. Morrisey and others are likely to argue that the agency still overstepped its authority.

Others say the grid simply isn’t ready for a massive shift away from traditional baseload power to more intermittent sources of energy such as wind and solar.

“This barrage of new EPA rules ignores our nation’s ongoing electric reliability challenges and is the wrong approach at a critical time for our nation’s energy future,” said Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Adding to the uncertainty, a change in administrations after this year’s election could result in a rollback of the new rules.

If the rules hold up, the EPA projects $370 billion in climate and public health benefits over the next two decades. The agency’s analysis predicts a reduction of 1.38 billion tons of CO2 through 2047, the equivalent of the annual emissions of 328 million gasoline powered cars.

The EPA is also gathering public input on a proposal to cut emissions from existing gas-fired power plants. Natural gas is currently the nation’s top source of electricity, and though it produces lower carbon emissions than coal, the production and transportation of gas emits methane, a more powerful heat-trapping gas than CO2.

The EPA’s principal solution for coal and gas plants to comply with the new rules is carbon capture and storage. But the technology has not been deployed successfully on a commercial scale, and power plant operators say that the rules will force fossil fuel plants to effectively shut down.

“It is obvious that the ultimate goal of these EPA regulations is to stop the use of fossil fuels to produce reliable energy in the United States by forcing the premature closure of coal plants and blocking new natural gas plants,” said U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Another powerful foe of the EPA rules vowed Thursday that she’d introduce a bill to repeal them.

“To protect millions of Americans, including energy workers, against executive overreach that has already been tried and rejected by the Supreme Court,” said U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, “I will be introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to overturn the EPA’s job-killing regulations announced today.”

Capito is the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees the EPA and confirms its administrator.

EPA Rules Mean Coal Plants Will Have To Capture Carbon Or Shut Down

The EPA will require existing coal-burning power plants to install carbon capture technology if they are scheduled to operate beyond 2040.

The chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said new power plant emission rules will eliminate some coal use.

The EPA will require existing coal-burning power plants to install carbon capture technology if they are scheduled to operate beyond 2040.

Carbon capture is not yet in widespread use in the electric power sector. Yet, if implemented, the rules would require the largest, most frequently run coal plants to capture 90 percent of their CO2 emissions starting in 2030.

Speaking to a group of reporters before the announcement of the rules, Administrator Michael Regan said the rules will allow power companies to decide whether they want to invest in carbon capture at individual plants.

“What we know, and what our analysis projects, is that we will see some coal retirements,” he said.

Last year’s Inflation Reduction Act includes incentives to install carbon capture at power plants.

Power companies will also be allowed to use natural gas or hydrogen to meet lower emissions targets at coal plants. Plants could be converted to burn 40 percent natural gas if they shut down before 2040.

Certain plants that see less use may not have to make any changes as long as they shut down by 2032 or 2035.

The rules also require natural gas plants to have some system in place to lower emissions. They could use either carbon capture or switch to low-carbon hydrogen.

The U.S. power sector was already trending away from coal. While coal produced nearly half the nation’s power 20 years ago, it has fallen to less than 20 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Natural gas has mostly taken coal’s place, but renewables account for an increasing share.

The proposed rules are almost certain to be challenged in court.

Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said Thursday that she’d introduce a resolution opposing them.

“It’s reprehensible that this administration would clamp down even further on domestic energy production while advancing policies meant to increase demand for electricity,” Capito said in a statement.

On Wednesday, her West Virginia counterpart, Democrat Joe Manchin, said he’d block every EPA nominee.

“We will do everything we can to make sure they do not jeopardize the grid system, the reliability of the power this country needs,” Manchin said.

In the briefing with reporters on Wednesday, Regan said the rules would not affect grid reliability or the affordability of electricity.

Another challenge could come from Republican state attorneys general, including Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia.

Last year, Morrisey brought a case to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, an earlier attempt to rein in carbon emissions.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has placed significant limits on what the EPA can do,” Morrisey said in a statement. “We plan on ensuring that those limits are upheld, and we expect that we would once again prevail in court against this out-of-control agency.”

The court ruled that the EPA had limited authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate power plant emissions. The new rules were designed to withstand legal challenges, Regan said.

Trump Administration Replaces Obama-Era Climate Change Rule On Power Plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday released its long-awaited final replacement for the Obama administration’s signature climate change regulation, which sought to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by one-third by 2025.

The Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule, or ACE, tasks states with developing plans that rely on the use of efficiency technologies to reduce carbon emissions at existing power plants.

That stands in contrast to its predecessor, the Clean Power Plan, which was never fully-implemented. The controversial rule, which was challenged in court by 27 states including West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, took a broad approach to reducing emissions throughout the power sector.

At a press conference, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the final ACE rule ensures a future for coal-fired power plants.

“ACE will continue our nation’s environmental progress and it will do so legally and with proper respect to our states,” he said. “We are leveling the playing field and encouraging innovation and technology across the sector.”

Many of the Ohio Valley’s Republican lawmakers attended the EPA press conference and expressed gratitude toward the agency for the ACE rule.

“I am so excited about what it will do for West Virginia and our surrounding states,” said Rep. Carol Miller, a Republican representing West Virginia’s third district. “The Affordable Clean Energy rule takes great steps in ensuring that mines will stay open by giving the power back to the states, restoring the rule of law and supporting America’s energy diversity and affordability.”

Bill Bissett, president and CEO of the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce told the crowd the ACE rule provides optimism to coal-producing regions.

“It provides the security that we’re going to power West Virginia and power this country with coal and natural gas,” he said.

However, industry analysts and experts have said the replacement regulation has very little chance of bringing the coal industry back across the Ohio Valley. They say the new rule does not change the larger economic trends affecting the power industry. Low natural gas prices and the rapidly falling costs for renewable energy generation are the primary challenges for coal.

ACE Analysis

The rule also does not address the challenges associated with mining thermal coal in the region. t It costs more to extract coal in Appalachia, partly because the region’s coal seams have been mined for generations.

A 2018report by West Virginia University’sBureau of Business and Economic Research predicted the recent uptick in West Virginia coal production — about 27 percent since mid-2016 driven largely by exports of metallurgical coal — will level out in the next two years.

In the agency’s ownin-depth analysis of the final ACE rule, EPA predicts the amount of coal produced in the U.S. is expected to decrease across the board. In Appalachia, coal mines would produce at least 80 percent less coal in 2035 than they did in 2017.

Industry Response

Some utilities in the region said they do not expect to keep their coal plants running longer because of the ACE rule.

Melissa McHenry, a spokesperson for American Electric Power, which operates in 11 states including Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia, said it will be several years before the impact of the ACE rule can be determined. In an email, she said AEP continues to diversify its fuel mix and invest in cleaner forms of energy, including renewables, and the company expects that the proportion of coal in its fuel mix will continue to decline.

“We don’t expect to keep our coal plants running longer due to this rule,” she stated. “The coal plants will run as long as the overall economics make sense. Ultimately, we have to continue to make the case to state utility commissions that continuing to operate these plants is in the best interest of our customers.”

A spokesperson for FirstEnergy Corp.’s Fort Martin and Harrison coal-fired power plants in West Virginia said it is “not making any immediate changes” to operations as a result of the new rule.

Chris Perry, president and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives was more optimistic about the rule’s impact. In a statement, he said the ACE rule “provides a more flexible path forward, which will minimize the cost to members and preserve the reliability of the electric grid as our co-ops work to promote a healthy environment and vibrant rural communities.”

Legal Challenge

Hours after EPA announced it had finalized the rule, some environmental groups and the New York Attorney General announced they intend to sue the agency for failing to protect both public health and the climate under the Clean Air Act.

David Doniger, a lawyer and senior strategic director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate and clean energy program, said in the intervening years since the Clean Power Plan was announced, the energy sector has achieved emissions reductions in line with that rule, despite it never being fully implemented, solely because of market forces.

“The right thing to do would be to strengthen the Clean Power Plan and not kill it,” he said. “The right thing to do would be to take care of coal miners and coal communities in the transition to a clean energy economy. This administration isn’t do either of those things.”

West Virginia Sierra Club Conservation Committee Chair Jim Kotcon said the final ACE rule is a step backward for both the climate and for those who live near the region’s many coal-fired power plants.

“We will have a disproportionate impact of those health risks from this rule change,” he said.

He added that if EPA wanted to extend a lifeline to the coal industry, the agency should seriously invest and incentivize the use of carbon capture and sequestration technology.

“But they have not done that, and without that, I don’t believe that the current market trends for coal will get much better,” Kotcon said. “So, we’re not really saving coal-fired power plants. We’re not using this technology. We are impacting the health of our residents, and we are increasing the overall greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise have been eliminated.”

Comments Due Today for EPA's Replacement Power Plant Rule

Today is the last day to submit comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the agency’s proposed Affordable Clean Energy rule.

The so-called ACE rule is the proposed replacement for the Obama administration’s signature climate regulation, the Clean Power Plan, which sought to reduce carbon emissions from power plants by encouraging states to shift electricity generation away from coal and toward natural gas, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The rule was never fully implemented and drew sharp criticism from industry groups and more than half the states in the country.

EPA’s proposed replacement, the ACE rule, takes a narrower approach and places the onus on states to decide how to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants.

The proposal has drawn praise from industry supporters and many Republican lawmakers around the Ohio Valley. Environmental and public health advocates say the rule will negatively impact the public’s health while doing little to boost coal, which faces an economic disadvantage against cheaper natural gas and renewable energy.

Energy experts have also cast doubts on the rule’s ability to help the struggling coal industry.

According to EPA’s analysis, as many as 1,400 people each year could die prematurely of heart and lung disease, linked to exposure of fine soot particles released from smokestacks. Cases of asthma and other respiratory diseases could increase by 15,000.

The agency has received nearly 1.5 million comments on the proposed replacement, according to Regulations.gov. Comments are being accepted until midnight on Oct. 31, 2018, and are accepted online, by email, mail, fax or hand delivery.

While Trump Touts Coal Revival, EPA Analysis Shows Mining Decline

At a campaign rally in Charleston for state attorney general and senate candidate Patrick Morrisey, President Donald Trump touted the coal industry’s comeback in West Virginia.

“And it is really happening — we are back,” Trump told the cheering crowd, many of whom were sporting hard hats and carrying “Trump Digs Coal” signs. “The coal industry is back.”

While coal production and mining jobs have ticked upward in West Virginia since mid-2016 – largely due to exports – recent reports as well as a government analysis released this week by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicate that trend is not likely to last.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump’s EPA released a more industry-friendly version of federal power plant regulations. The Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule is a replacement for the Obama administration’s signature climate regulation, the Clean Power Plan.

The Clean Power Plan took a wide approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging states to shift electricity generation away from coal and toward natural gas, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. It drew sharp criticism from industry groups and more than half the states in the country.

Morrisey was an outspoken opponent of the Clean Power Plan. He led a coalition of 27 states, utilities and trade associations in a legal challenge of the rule, which ultimately resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court halting its implementation.

What is the Affordable Clean Energy Rule?

The new rule takes a much narrower approach to regulating greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector.

The EPA envisions individual states taking the lead. Under the new proposal, states would have the authority to craft their own plans for how to reduce emissions at the power plant level, largely by striving to make plants more efficient with heat rate improvements.

Bill Wehrum, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation told reporters during a press call, that the ACE rule aims to tip the regulatory balance back toward states when it comes to regulating emissions.

“The key point here is every power plant is different,” he said. “What our proposed program would do is gives states flexibility to take those unique aspects of each of the power plants in their jurisdiction into consideration and then set standards that are tailored to the particular characteristics of the facility.”

Just hours after the EPA unveiled the plan, Trump touted it at the West Virginia rally.

Attendees hold signs at a campaign rally for Republican Senate Candidate Patrick Morrisey held by President Donald Trump in Charleston, W.Va. on Aug. 21 2018.

“Every day we’re keeping our promises,” Trump said. “We’re cancelling Obama’s illegal, anti-coal-destroying regulations — the so-called Clean Power Plan.”

The president said the new regulation, ACE, would “help our coal-fired power plants and save consumes, you, me, everybody, billions and billions of dollars.”

In its in-depth analysis of the rule, the EPA estimates electricity prices would drop 0.2-0.5 percent by 2025 under the new rule.

Perhaps more striking, the agency’s analysis also finds the amount of coal produced in the U.S. is expected to decrease across the board, in some cases drastically.

In Appalachia, coal mines would produce at least 78 percent less coal in 2035 than they did last year.

The West Virginia coal industry has improved under Trump. Production is up nearly 27 percent since the middle of 2016, driven largely by an uptick in coal exports for steel production.

But other parts of the Ohio Valley have seen little change in coal employment. A recent report by West Virginia University forecasts coal production in the state will level out during the next two years and decline sharply during the next two decades.

Reactions

Opponents and proponents alike were swift with reactions.

In a statement, Gov. Jim Justice called the proposed rule a “big win for West Virginia.”

“President Trump has followed through on his promise to get rid of the Clean Power Plan and use American energy to fuel economic growth,” he said. “The ACE rule will help West Virginia big time and will bring back energy jobs like you can’t imagine.”

Chris Hamilton with the West Virginia Coal Association also expressed optimism.

“It will help, there’s no question about it,” he said. “We’re hopeful and we don’t see any reason that would serve as a barrier to investment and the future of coal, coal mining coal-fired plants.”

Environmental and public health groups pushed back against the new proposal.

Bill Price, an organizing manager for the Sierra Club based in Charleston, said West Virginians should expect to see their air quality and health decrease because of the rollback of the Clean Power Plan.

“One of my major concerns here is that this plan that we’re calling the ‘Dirty Power Plan’ leaves it up to the states to decide how much or if they will reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants,” he said. “The history here in West Virginia is the regulatory agencies don’t do a very good job.”

EPA will accept comments on the rule for 60 days.