The Environmental Protection Agency released rules Thursday requiring coal-fired power plants to install carbon capture technology in order to keep running past 2039. The requirements begin in 2032.
The technology captures carbon dioxide emissions from the plant and then transports them for storage in underground wells. The costs of the EPA’s demands will likely be so high that owners of coal-fired power plants will choose to retire them rather than invest in the changes.
“Aside from the obvious impacts of driving up costs while further destabilizing America’s already rickety electricity grid by eliminating critical baseload power, EPA’s ill-intentioned and legally questionable rules package will seriously impact our state’s people,” Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, told Just The News.
The EPA’s carbon capture rules will also apply to new natural gas-fired power plants. Those that reach at least 40% of their annual capacity, according to Axios, will need to implement carbon capture starting in 2032. The original proposal included existing gas-fired power plants, but those were spared in the final rule. However, Axios reports, it’s expected that if Biden is reelected, those will be the next target of his administration.
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