The US National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to repeal the Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Rule adopted under the Biden administration.
In a letter to EPA on 7 August, NRECA asked the agency to remove the rule, which requires existing coal-fired plants and many new natural gas plants to eventually capture 90% of their carbon emissions. Adopted in 2024, the rule also requires certain existing coal plants to be 40% co-fired with natural gas by 2030.
NRECA, which represents nearly 900 not-for-profit electric co-ops, argued the rule places additional costs on electric co-ops while putting reliability at risk. CEO Jim Matheson said in a statement the repeal would “ensure the reliability of the electric grid and meet skyrocketing energy demands”.
He added: “Always-available generation is critical to keeping the lights on at a cost local families and businesses can afford. And until the Biden rule is repealed, it remains in effect and is a source of severe uncertainty for electric cooperatives.”
Matheson is now calling on the Trump administration to “move swiftly to finalise this proposed repeal”.
Announced in 2024, the rule was designed to help cut power plant emissions by 75% below 2005 levels by 2035, and 83% by 2040. But NRECA, which claims it exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority and lacks legislative authorisation, filed a lawsuit last year to challenge the rule.
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In June, EPA presented an alternative plan for regulating emissions that would repeal most of the Biden rule, including the 90% carbon capture and storage requirements, a move welcomed by NRECA.
“NRECA supports EPA’s Proposed Rule as it would repeal the unlawful, unrealistic, and unachievable CPS [Carbon Pollution Standards],” its letter read.
“The CPS is unlawful, unrealistic, and unachievable. It jeopardises electric reliability and affordability. Its standards were based on technology that has not been adequately demonstrated, and its requirements are not achievable. Instead, the previous administration attempted to leverage an ‘ancillary provision’ of the CAA to reshape the electric sector when it was unable to pass transformative legislation through Congress.”
Under its proposal in June, EPA would maintain non-CCS-based emissions limits for new natural gas plants, which NRECA also opposes.
“These emissions standards are not achievable in real world operation,” it said, “and will only become less achievable as natural gas plants increasingly cycle with greater frequency to support intermittent generation and support data centers and other large loads.
“Retaining these standards is diametrically opposed to the administration’s vision of unleashing American energy, as the unachievable emissions standards would arbitrarily cap how often new natural gas plants can operate.”
Coal plants generate around 16% of the electricity in the US, down from 45% in 2010.
Green groups have also responded to EPA’s proposal. The Clean Air Task Force (CATF), which, along with partner organisations, submitted comments to EPA warning the move would help drive the climate crisis and threaten public health.
“EPA has the responsibility – and the legal obligation – to reduce pollution that warms the planet and harms human health, which is exactly what the agency did when it finalised power plant carbon standards last year,” said Frank Sturges, attorney at CATF.
“Eliminating these rules ignores the facts: pollution from power plants contributes significantly to climate change that harms public health. Power plants are the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, accounting for a quarter of emissions. And the harms from climate change – from increased dust and wildfire smoke to stronger heat waves – are clear. If EPA finalises this repeal, power plants would continue to spew greenhouse gases completely unregulated, threatening public health and driving up electricity costs.”
There are alternatives, he added.
“We have the technology to achieve significant emissions reductions while providing Americans with reliable and affordable electricity,” he said. “Carbon capture systems – which use a type of pollution scrubber like those EPA has been relying on in pollution limits for decades – can reduce emissions at a reasonable cost, and the technical record has only gotten stronger since EPA correctly reached that determination.
“Now hellbent on advancing a deregulatory agenda on political grounds, EPA completely ignores its own factual findings, disregards scientific evidence, and relies on unreasonable assumptions. But the law and science cannot be politicized – EPA has the statutory duty to regulate industries that significantly contribute to air pollution, and the standards currently in place are achievable. There is only one thing EPA can do to comply with the law – withdraw the proposed repeal.”
