After Listening To Manufacturing And Metals Industry, EPA Pulls Rules That Would Harm Grid Reliability
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun the process of repealing a Biden-era regulations regarding emissions from new and existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants.
According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), once finalized, the repeals will boost U.S. energy production, strengthen grid reliability, and support manufacturing growth in the United States. The rules the EPA is proposing to roll back had mandated that existing coal-fired plants and new natural gas-fired plants reduce or capture 90 percent of their emissions by 2032, among other requirements. According to NAM, the regulations also contained an unrealistic timeline for power plants to adopt new technologies.
The Trump administration reportedly does not plan to issue a replacement rule. The public has 45 days to submit comments to the EPA on the proposed policy. Read more at this link.
As a reminder, in December 2024, the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) joined with NAM and dozens of other industry organizations to send a letter to the incoming Trump administration that detailed regulatory actions the new president and his top staff could take to right-size regulations that had stunted manufacturing growth and job creation. That letter, available at this link, included a mention of the power plant rules.
Regarding the rules, the letter noted the United States has an abundant supply of coal and natural gas that together account for almost 60 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. It argued the Biden administration rules threaten “grid reliability because of the unrealistic timeline for power plants to adopt technologies within the next 10 years that have yet to be proven at scale” and said, “if these power plants cannot deploy carbon capture and storage and/or hydrogen co- firing technologies within this timeframe, they will be forced to retire.” The letter concluded, “Given the growing demand for more electricity on the grid due to greater electrification and the growth of data centers, now is not the time to needlessly remove baseload generation from the grid, particularly affordable and reliable natural gas-fired generation.”