Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it will reconsider a number of Biden-era regulations. In response, America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth released the following statement:
“Electricity consumers – homes, businesses, factories, and data centers – should be grateful for Administrator Zeldin’s leadership in reconsidering regulations that are forcing coal-fired power plants to close prematurely, undermining the reliability of America’s electricity supply, and increasing electricity prices. Today’s announcement recognizes the need for dependable and affordable sources of electricity at a time when the demand for electricity is increasing rapidly and the U.S. faces stiff competition from other countries.
“President Biden’s Clean Power Plan is one of several rules that EPA will be reconsidering. EPA designed the rule to force the closure of coal-fired power plants and ignored the objections of energy providers and state utility commissioners who expressed serious concerns about the reliability impacts of the rule. Other EPA rules that are being reconsidered would add unnecessary costs to the $70 billion that has already been invested over the last two decades to install advanced environmental controls on the coal fleet. These unnecessary costs would be passed on to electricity consumers.
“President Trump has also provided very strong leadership by declaring a national energy emergency. One of the reasons for this emergency is the premature retirement of coal-fired power plants. One-third of the nation’s coal fleet is expected to retire over the next five years unless decisive steps are taken to prevent these retirements. Most of these coal retirements will occur in regions of the country that face the risk of electricity shortages. Reconsideration of EPA rules is an important step, and we look forward to working with the Administration as it takes other steps to prevent coal retirements and protect electricity consumers.”
