EPA

  A recent motion filed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking a federal court to remand parts of its final coal combustion residuals (CCR) rule could have major new consequences for the power sector if upheld, an expert has said. In its 16-page motion filed on April 18, the agency asked the U.S. Court of Appeals […]

  Even if the Clean Power Plan (CPP) doesn’t overcome legal challenges, it is likely that many states will implement carbon-curbing measures set down by the rule, some panelists said at the Environmental Mega Session at the ELECTRIC POWER 2016 conference in New Orleans on April 19. The Rule’s Shaky Legal Standing The rule is […]

Public benefits offered by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) far outweigh the costs, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said as it released a review of the 2012-finalized rule’s cost implications. The final cost consideration—released just days before power plants that received a one-year extension must come into compliance with the rule—was prompted by […]

The owner and management company of the Berkshire Power Plant—a 252-MW natural gas–fired combined cycle plant located in Agawam, Mass.—agreed to plead guilty on March 30 to felony charges that the companies violated and conspired to violate the federal Clean Air Act. The indictments against Berkshire Power Co. (BPC), the owner of the plant, and […]

A diverse coalition of major investor-owned utilities, public power authorities, and one of the largest independent power producers, as well as a combination of cities and states, clean energy groups, and environmental groups, filed briefs with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan. The involved […]

Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, is President Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s a roundup of Garland’s more recent power sector rulings. July 2015: On Backup Generators Chief Judge Garland and senior circuit Judges Williams and Randolph repealed part of the Environmental Protection […]

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed, with bipartisan support, a bill that slackens emissions limits for power plants that burn coal refuse. The Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment (SENSE) Act passed the House with a 231–183 vote on March 15. However, the White House has said it strongly opposes the bill (H.R. […]

Of nearly 18 GW of U.S. generating capacity permanently shuttered in 2015, 77% was conventional steam coal–fired. About 30% of that 13.7 GW in coal capacity was retired in April 2015, when the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule went into effect, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on March […]

The disposal of coal ash, a combustion byproduct from coal-fired power plants, was propelled into the national conversation on December 22, 2008, when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston power plant suffered one of the largest coal ash spills in history. Calls for regulatory action shifted pitch again after the Duke Energy Dan River spill […]

Rallied by the Supreme Court’s unprecedented stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, a coalition of 20 states has asked the high court to stay another disputed agency rule: the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). The states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North […]

  Power generators consumed 34% of total U.S. energy uses from fossil fuels and accounted for 39% of the nation’s carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2014—a fraction of a percent more than in 2013—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in its newly released Greenhouse Gas Inventory report. In 2014, 2,054.8 million metric tons […]

Despite the unprecedented stay by the Supreme Court, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan will withstand legal challenges “based on its merits,” predicted the agency’s head, Gina McCarthy, at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston. McCarthy discussed the plan and other recent initiatives to stem greenhouse gas emissions—including recently announced rules to curb […]

Dealing a major blow to the Obama administration’s climate agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote stayed implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) pending a decision on its legality in the D.C Circuit Court of Appeals. The one-page order gives no explanation for the court’s action, but issuance […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) acting administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation, and the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) head of clean coal and carbon management gave upbeat assessments of the Obama administration’s regulatory agenda and power sector priorities speaking at the EUEC 2016 conference in San Diego on February 3. Janet McCabe of […]

Following the D.C. Circuit’s denial of motions for stay, 26 states have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) contentious Clean Power Plan from taking effect. The January 26 application, directed to Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., notes that the states filed petitions for review of the carbon rule […]

Congressional efforts to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) contentious rule asserting federal authority over small bodies of water were derailed on Jan. 21. Senate Republicans voted 52–40, failing to override the president’s veto of the so-called “Clean Water Rule”—also “Waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) well short of the 60 necessary votes. Clean […]

A federal court has denied the motions for stay requested by 27 states and numerous industry groups to block the Clean Power Plan from taking effect. “Petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review,” the court said in its two-page order on January 21. The court also ordered that consideration of the […]

POWER‘s monthly infographic sheds light on power sector trends globally, and in 2015, it highlighted changes in plant retirements, sector revenues, rule costs, workforce, emissions technologies, and electricity costs, among other subjects. January 2015: Baseload Retirements How coal plant retirements compare with retirements of other baseload generation sources. February 2015: Power Revenues How revenues for fossil power […]

Texas is the latest state to file suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its recently finalized standards for ozone. The state joins Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wisconsin, which have legally challenged the final version of the EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone since its […]

As expected, President Obama vetoed two resolutions on Dec. 18 that would have blocked the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) rules on CO2 emissions and halted the administration’s Clean Power Plan. Senate Joint Res. 23 was Congress’ attempt to nullify the EPA’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for new, modified, and reconstructed power plants, while Senate […]

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) will remain in effect as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works on a final cost finding, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered on Dec. 15. The court noted in a two-page order that the EPA “has represented that it is on track to issue […]

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a decision concluding that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) use of Thunderclap—a crowd-speaking social media platform that allows a single message to be mass-shared, flash-mob style—constituted “covert propaganda,” in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition. The decision was issued in response to a request from Sen. James […]

American Electric Power (AEP), one of the biggest coal generators in the U.S., is withdrawing funds and staff resources from heavy lobbying efforts against the Clean Power Plan, sinking them instead into preparations for compliance with the controversial climate rule. The company has informed the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that it will not be […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) is likely to be complicated at least as much by political and legal opposition as by technological challenges in reducing carbon emissions, several speakers at POWER magazine’s inaugural conference on legal issues in the generation industry noted on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas. “Navigating Legal Implications of […]

New rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have several unintended consequences for the power sector, an expert said at a POWER magazine event on Dec. 7. Floyd Self, an attorney with Florida-based law firm Berger Singerman, said that the bevy of new EPA rules have helped forged mergers between electric and gas utilities and necessitated […]

Climate change litigation in the U.S. has far outpaced climate litigation in any other jurisdiction. In fact, according to Teri Donaldson, partner with DLA Piper, more lawsuits concerning climate change have been decided or settled in the U.S. than in the rest of the world combined. “The success rate in these cases is very low,” […]

The power sector should view the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recent drive to tighten regulations on air and water emissions as an opportunity to improve its efficiency and environmental footprint rather than as an obstacle, said EPA General Counsel Avi S. Garbow at POWER magazine’s inaugural conference on legal issues in the generation industry. “We want […]

The U.S. House of Representatives passed two joint resolutions on Dec. 1 designed to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan. The House votes come just two weeks after the Senate passed both resolutions on Nov. 17. Senate Joint Res. 23—sponsored by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)—provides for congressional […]

A regional haze program final rule for Texas expected soon from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could speed up the retirement of about 4.7 GW of coal-fired capacity, warns the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in a new generation outlook. The grid operator’s Dec. 1–released “Report on the Capacity, Demand and Reserves (CDR) in […]

There’s an old saying in Washington that when everyone is upset, you’ve probably done something right. By that measure, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) latest update to the National