Breaking news: More U.S. coal power plants could shut down under a new EPA rule aimed at reducing toxic water pollution
The Biden administration moved Wednesday to strengthen a rule limiting millions of gallons of toxic water pollution from coal power plants, a change that could lead some plants to shut down or switch to burning natural gas, rather than pay increased compliance costs.In announcing the proposed restrictions, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan called them the strongest limits the federal government has ever set for wastewater from coal plants.
EPA officials estimate the new rule will reduce the discharge of pollutants into the country’s waterways by about 584 million pounds annually. They did not provide an estimate of how much complying with the regulation could cost plant operators, but they said that implementing the rule would likely increase electricity costs by 63 cents per household per year., the rule offers an alternative pathway — an off-ramp.
Yet even the more lax regulation didn’t change the math for many plant operators. According to the EPA, 74 electricity generating units at 33 power plants nationwide have notified state regulators of their plans to retire or convert to gas, at least in part because of the expense of stricter water pollution controls. But there is some uncertainty about this total, and the Sierra Club’s anti-coal campaign is aware of 71 units that plan to stop burning coal.
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