Duke Energy, one of the nation’s largest energy providers, warns that the Biden administration’s new power plant regulations threaten the reliability and affordability of electricity.
The North Carolina-based company, which serves more than 8 million residential and commercial customers in multiple states, primarily in the Southeast, said the regulation poses additional challenges given the growing demand for electricity nationwide. warned that this could occur. thursday morning, environmental protection agency The EPA and the White House have announced rules targeting fossil fuel-fired power plants.
“Duke Energy’s 8.4 million customers expect and deserve affordable, reliable, and increasingly clean energy,” Duke Energy spokeswoman Caitlin Kershner told Fox News Digital. said in a statement. “Our responsibility, and I believe it is the responsibility of policy makers, is to optimize the customer’s three needs, not solve one.”
“The final rule not only poses significant challenges to customer reliability and affordability, but also limits our potential to become a global leader in chips, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing,” she said. continued.
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Several industry groups representing power companies have warned that the Biden administration’s regulations threaten the stability of the nation’s power grid. (Getty Images)
Under the regulation, all coal-fired power plants and all new baseload gas-fired power plants scheduled to remain in operation in the long term will be required to control 90% of their carbon emissions. The rulemaking also tightens emissions standards for coal-fired power plants related to toxic metals and wastewater emissions.
EPA and White House officials said the package of environmental regulations will help meet President Biden’s goal of decarbonizing the U.S. power grid. Shortly after his inauguration, Biden pledged to achieve up to a 52% reduction in total emissions by 2030 and enable the creation of a carbon-free power sector by 2035.
But Duke Energy’s resistance comes at a cost from Biden’s ambitious renewable energy goals and from the utility, which is tasked with eventually transitioning its power plants to primarily green energy sources such as wind and solar. It highlights the tension between. According to federal data, natural gas and coal currently generate 43% and 16% of the nation’s electricity, respectively, while wind and solar generate 10% and 4% of it.
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“The path laid out by the EPA today is illegal, unrealistic and unachievable,” said Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives. “This undermines power reliability and has significant implications for an already stressed power grid. Without reliable power, the American economy cannot succeed. Smart energy policy recognizes that fundamental truth. We’re working to recognize it and keep the lights on.”
“By developing these standards in a clear, transparent, and comprehensive manner, EPA will reduce pollution while helping utilities make smart investments and ensure that all “We are ensuring that we continue to provide reliable power to millions of Americans.” (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
America’s Power, a group that advocates for coal-fired power generation, called the regulation “an extreme and illegal overreach that jeopardizes America’s reliable and affordable electricity supply.”
The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the U.S. natural gas and oil industry, expressed concern that the administration is not considering the reliability of the power grid and should instead remove barriers to building new power plants.
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Dan Brouillette, president and CEO of the Edison Electric Association, which represents all investor-owned electric utilities in the U.S., also praised many of the EPA’s rulemakings, but added that the agency’s carbon It criticized its reliance on capture and storage (CCS).
Baltimore’s coal-fired Brandon Shores Generating Station is one of several power plants scheduled to close within the next few years. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
CCS, which the EPA says plays a key role in helping power plants achieve stricter regulations, has been criticized as an expensive and nascent technology that captures power plant emissions before they are released into the atmosphere.
“CCS is not yet ready for full-scale adoption across the economy, and there is not enough time to license, finance and build the CCS infrastructure needed for compliance by 2032,” Brouillette said.
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Overall, electricity demand is expected to increase by 2.5% in 2024 and 3.2% in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration, as federal and state agencies continue to push for electrification of the residential, commercial, and transportation sectors. .
At the same time, a staggering 22.3 gigawatts of coal-fired power generation capacity was retired in 2022 and 2023. Another 13 gigawatts are scheduled to be retired over the next two years.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
