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Dive brief:
- President-elect Donald Trump on Monday tapped former Rep. Lee Zeldin, a New York Republican, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency amid expectations that the agency will roll back regulations affecting power plants fossil fuel power plants.
- Zeldin, a member of the House from 2015 to 2023, will ensure “fair and swift” deregulatory decisions that will boost American business while maintaining the highest environmental standards, Trump said in a statement.
- “We will restore America’s energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the world leader in AI,” Zeldin said in a statement. “We will do this while protecting access to clean air and water.”
Diving knowledge:
The Trump administration is likely to roll back EPA regulations affecting fossil fuel power plants, including a rule that sets limits on carbon emissions from power plants, it has reported. Michelle Bloodworthpresident and CEO of America’s Power, a trade group for coal-fired power plant owners.
“Given this election, we expect to see a lot more delays in coal plant retirements due to data center growth,” Bloodworth said Sunday at the annual meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Services Commissioners in Anaheim, California. .
According to Bloodworth, there are six EPA rules that will force the early retirement of the majority of US coal-fired power plants, totaling about 180,000 MW, while preventing new gas-fired generation. They are the Carbon Rule, the Ozone Transport Rule, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the Effluent Limitation Guidelines, the Coal Ash Rule, and the Regional Haze Rule.
The carbon, ozone transport, effluent limits and MATS rules are being challenged in court. Bloodworth he said during a panel discussion on decommissioning power plants in an era of increasing electricity demand.
Bloodworth expects the Trump administration to ask the courts to stay the pending lawsuits and send the rules back to the EPA. Based on precedent, the courts are very likely to grant these requests, she he said
After the rules are returned to the EPA, the agency can begin new rulemaking processes to repeal or revise them so that they do not affect the reliability or affordability of the grid or to make them “more reasonable and flexible ” said Bloodworth. That process could take more than two years, he said.
According to Bloodworth, the Trump administration would also likely act on the coal ash rule and regional haze.
In response to Zeldin’s selection, the Sierra Club said he was not qualified. He received a lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters of 14 percent and voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, the environmental group said.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Zeldin would have to commit to making sure America remains a leader in the clean energy transition and the “good-paying jobs it creates,” or risk lagging behind other nations, the Environmental Defense Fund said in a statement.
“Given President-elect Trump’s EPA record during his first administration, and his allies’ proposals to roll back climate progress and health protections, we will be watching Mr. Zeldin’s confirmation process closely.” , said Amanda Leland, chief executive of EDF.
In the meantime, America’s Power is urging grid operators and state utility regulators to consider measures to avoid capacity shortfalls and maintain grid reliability. They are:
- Dispatchable generation should not be retired until replacement capacity with at least the same proven capacity and reliability attributes is in operation;
- The transmission required for replacement capacity should be in service before the older generation is retired; i
- Network operators should identify and value all attributes necessary to maintain network reliability.
