Jennifer Hiller and Eric Niiler of The Wall Street Journal tell their readers that new EPA emission rules, which come as power demand surges, will force coal plants to adopt costly technology or close. They write:
The Biden administration on Thursday issued sweeping new rules that crack down on power-plant pollution and could force many of the country’s coal plants to shutter unless they undertake costly upgrades.
The rules, which will almost certainly be challenged in court, mandate strict controls on carbon-dioxide emissions at existing coal plants and newly built natural-gas plants. They set the stage for a significant infrastructure build-out to capture and dispose of CO2 emitted at such plants in order to comply.
The changes come as the industry juggles the first upswing in power demand in two decades and a shifting generation mix. Solar and wind projects are being added to the grid, and utilities say more gas-fired power plants are needed for reliability and to replace coal. […]
Meanwhile, the coal-mining industry is finding new customers abroad to replace retiring U.S. coal plants. Consol Energy operates three mines in Pennsylvania and one in West Virginia. Chief Executive Jimmy Brock said new export markets took 60% of the 26 million tons of coal that Consol dug last year.
“I think we need to invest in those technologies,” Brock said, referring to carbon capture. “If they don’t, we’ll continue to send our coal overseas.”
Read more here.
