Will New EPA Carbon Pollution Rules Affect Fossil Fuel Power Plans

This update affects existing coal plants and new methane gas plants.

April 25, 2024

SOUTH CAROLINA - Today, the Biden administration finalized federal carbon pollution standards for new gas-fired power plants and-for the first time-existing coal-fired plants. These critically-needed standards will slash carbon pollution and improve air quality for families and communities nationwide.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates the carbon pollution standards will avoid 1.4 billion metric tons of CO2 pollution through 2047. The rule will also improve air quality by cutting harmful pollutants, including smog- and soot-forming compounds that cause serious lung and heart ailments, as well as hazardous air pollutants like mercury. EPA projects that the standards will deliver up to $370 billion in net climate and public health benefits over the next two-and-a-half decades.

One large project that could be impacted by the new rule is the proposed Dominion and Santee Cooper shared combined cycle methane gas plant. To meet the new standard, the joint plant would have to plan for major infrastructure upgrades before or immediately after coming online to meet the rule's carbon reduction requirements in 2032. If the two utilities were to drop the plan for the methane gas plant South Carolina could avoid an estimated 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution every year. The new rule could have similar impacts on a proposal by Duke Energy for a new combined cycle methane gas plant in South Carolina.

These safeguards are part of a series of Biden administration initiatives aimed at reducing air and climate pollution, including measures to limit interstate ozone and soot pollution from coal and gas power plants, methane emissions from oil and gas development, and pollution from heavy-duty trucks and vehicles.

In February, EPA announced the agency would issue a new proposal to reduce carbon pollution and other harmful air emissions from existing gas plants separate from today's final rule, which does not address pollution from gas plants currently in operation.

In response, Paul Black, a Field Organizer for Sierra Club in South Carolina released the following statement:

"The days of unchecked climate pollution from fossil fuel power plants are numbered. It is time utilities like Dominion, Santee Cooper, and Duke take community health and safety into account when making decisions on the future of energy production. We know harmful greenhouse gases affect our everyday lives, and now the Biden Administration is doing something about it.

"Dominion and Santee Cooper are in the process of making a large mistake in rushing towards a combined cycle methane gas plant that will cost us in climate impact and money. It just does not make sense to invest in fossil fuels when you accurately determine the climate impact and financial cost. Duke is also proposing a new methane gas plant in South Carolina. It is time we say no, South Carolinians deserve better!"

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

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