Dive Summary:
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is close to issuing new standards requiring new coal plants to install expensive carbon-capture technology, sources briefed on the situation told Bloomberg.
- The White House is currently reviewing the new standards before their scheduled release next week.
- The rules are a revision of a similar proposal from 2012 that caused an uproar among utilities and the coal industry. Sources say the EPA has structured the rules differently, but that they will still have the same basic effect.
Insight: Utilities are resistant to carbon-capture technology as they deem it expensive and unproven. Ultimately, the new rules may simply accelerate the retirement of aging coal fleets and the industry's transition towards natural gas.
From the article:
“The administration was forced to rework the first rules on greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants after legal experts questioned its approach in setting one standard for coal and natural-gas plants. Coal emits about twice the carbon dioxide as natural gas when burned to make power.”
