Trump’s Repeal of Pollution Rules Paves Way for New Dirty Plants
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration’s plan to repeal power-plant pollution mandates will make it easier and cheaper for utilities to build new fossil fuel-fired plants, while stalling investment in clean energy.
The proposal unveiled Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency would eliminate a Biden-era rule requiring power plants to curb their greenhouse-gas emissions. That would smooth the path for a significant build-out of natural gas generators that utilities say are needed to meet a surge in electricity demand from artificial intelligence. About 19 gigawatts of new gas-fired power — enough to support 14.3 million homes — is planned by 2028, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
While the curbs would not have barred the construction of those plants, they would have compelled utilities to capture nearly all of their carbon dioxide emissions, a costly and complicated feat. The rule’s repeal could also prolong the life of coal plants that were in the process of being phased out.
The decision comes at a critical time in the power industry, when utilities are scrambling to meet new demand driven by new data centers. Although some utilities have turned to natural gas as an expedient way to secure round-the-clock power, green power advocates maintain that investments in clean energy are crucial to the energy system’s long-term reliability.
READ: AI’s Need for Power Spurs Return of Dirty Gas Turbines
“Businesses need certainty,” said Heather O’Neill, chief executive officer of Advanced Energy United, which represents clean energy developers and technology companies including Meta, Google, Microsoft and Apple. “Reversing course on these regulations will unfortunately stall much needed investment and smart upgrades to our power system.”
The trade group said its research shows that deploying solar, wind and battery storage can provide energy and capacity at a lower cost than new gas plants.
Yet some industry groups and independent power producers cheered the administration’s move, saying the roll-back would give utilities and generators more flexibility to meet increasingly unpredictable demand.
“Regulatory flexibility and certainty are critical for electric companies as they work to meet the nation’s growing demands for reliable electricity, while also keeping customer bills as low as possible,” said Alex Bond, executive director of legal and clean energy policy at Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities.
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