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The largest U.S. electric utility trade group said this week it is joining litigation to challenge the Biden administration's new rules that aim to cut carbon emissions from existing coal and new gas power plants.
The Edison Electric Institute said it supports the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, but its members oppose the EPA's determination that carbon capture and sequestration technology should be the "basis for compliance" with the regulation.
"CCS is an emerging technology, and EPA's implementation timelines do not align with the current reality," EEI President Dan Brouillette said, noting that no coal- or natural gas-fired power plants currently meet the EPA's CCS requirements.
"Throughout the rulemaking process, we repeatedly raised concerns that CCS is not yet ready for full-scale, industry-wide deployment, nor is there sufficient time to permit, finance and build the infrastructure needed for compliance by 2032," Brouillette said.
The final power plant rule released last month effectively requires coal-fired plants and new gas-fired plants to install equipment in the coming decade to capture emissions before they reach the atmosphere.
The EEI is joining Republican attorneys general from 27 states in the litigation, as well as the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and some of EEI's individual members, including American Electric Power (AEP), Duke Energy (DUK) and Vistra (VST); the motion filed in the D.C. Circuit is a first step in a legal process which could take years.
An analysis by Politico shows the regulation could hasten the demise of the U.S. coal industry.
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