G rid operators and coal interests are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to rethink a series of proposed rules to crack down harder on pollutants from coal-fired power plants, a signature environmental move by President Joe Biden's administration that starkly contrasts the industry-friendly approach of former President Donald Trump.
In April, the Biden administration proposed a number of rules designed to reduce the release of toxins and other dangers from coal plants. That includes nitrogen oxide and mercury pollution, as well as cross-state smog. But such steps would make it nearly impossible to keep coal plants running, the industry argues. Coal interests see it as a gut punch to an industry that is already on its heels, with the future being focused more on lower-emitting sources, such as gas and renewable wind and solar.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said the agency's pending rules are necessary to compensate for an under-regulation of coal during the Trump administration. EPA's proposed changes to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule have received the most attention. The Biden administration's proposal aims to slash smog pollution that comes from power plants and other industrial sources and drifts across state lines, endangering people in downwind states.
The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, expected to be finalized next year, would, among other things, impose aggressive ozone and nitrogen oxide controls on coal-powered generators. Additionally, these generators would be required to install and operate selective catalytic reduction technologies by 2026, which could prove costly for the long-declining industry.
Now, some in the coal power sector are asking the EPA for more flexibility to comply with the coming regulations, citing a direct threat to the ability to keep coal plants running.
PJM Interconnection, which oversees grid operations in all or part of 13 states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, emphasized in comments to the EPA that thermal generators, a category that includes coal but also natural gas and nuclear and others that drive turbines with heat, “supply the bulk of the essential reliability attributes needed to support the grid" and that the reliability characteristics of thermal generators will be needed "for the foreseeable future."
Residents of areas served by PJM are "not immune from the trends occurring elsewhere in the country that have driven premature retirement of fossil resources at the very time when such resources will be needed as a backup given the intermittent nature of renewable resource output," PJM said.
Midcontinent Independent System Operator is emphasizing the reliability of coal, an industry that has been caught in political tussles in recent years. Democrats generally have pushed forms of "clean" technology, while Republicans argue a decimation of the coal industry would put at risk tens of thousands of people whose livelihoods are dependent on it.
"It will take time to obtain the required regulatory approvals to construct new generation and especially any needed transmission facilities to connect that generation to the grid," MISO said.
PJM, MISO, and a pair of other energy companies, the Southwest Power Pool and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, drafted a letter urging the EPA to include in any final rule something called a "reliability safety valve," which would allow coal-powered generators not to comply if it put at risk reliable sources of energy in the areas the companies serve.
An EPA spokesperson said its efforts to prevent pollutants from crossing state lines, known as the "Good Neighbor" plan, do not force the retirement of any energy source. Whether to shutter plants is a decision left to coal power plant operators themselves.
The regulations, though, reflect the Biden administration's priorities of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, and coal power is among the lowest hanging fruit. Biden set a target of achieving 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035, and Regan has been forthright about the strategy of giving the sector a substantial nudge.
The “Good Neighbor” plan would prevent about 1,000 premature deaths, 1.3 million cases of asthma, 2,400 visits to hospitals and emergency rooms, and 470,000 missed days of school, according to an EPA fact sheet.
Other proposed EPA regulations covering coal include a regional haze rule and revised Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.
The Biden EPA is also working on a replacement to the Trump administration's Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which will be used to regulate carbon emissions from coal plants. The Supreme Court just put up new guardrails for the agency, ruling that the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, the ACE rule's predecessor, exceeded EPA's authority to regulate power plant emissions.
All told, the mix of rules together is "likely to cause substantial retirements of coal capacity" between 2026 and 2028, according to America's Power, an industry group that serves the interests of coal-fired power generators.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the description of PJM's comment.