Power plants and carbon emissions. What’s at stake

Opening briefs are due Friday before the U.S. Supreme Court that could decide the fate of the remaining coal-fired power plants operating in the United States, including the decades-old Hunter and Huntington power plants in Emery County.
Utah has joined 24 other states in a lawsuit challenging the rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has been put on hold by an appellate court.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association has also filed a lawsuit challenging the power plant edict.
“EPA’s power plant rule is unlawful, unreasonable and unachievable. It exceeds EPA’s authority and poses an immediate threat to the American power grid,” the association’s chief executive officer, Jim Matheson, said. “Under the rule, EPA illegally attempts to transform the U.S. energy economy by forcing a shift in electricity generation to the agency’s favored sources.”
The EPA has until Oct. 11 for its response before the court, while all briefs are due Nov. 1. Oral arguments are expected to follow.
The rule asks states to carve out a path forward to meet a 2032 deadline to curb 90% of carbon pollution or face closure. The rule also requires a 70% reduction in mercury emissions and sets a standard threshold for greenhouse gas emissions.
Both PacifiCorp, the umbrella company to Rocky Mountain Power, and the Utah Division of Air Quality have emphasized to Utah lawmakers and policymakers that the rule is unworkable and unrealistic.
While the federal government’s answer to the new restrictions is for plants to cut emissions via carbon capture, both Rocky Mountain Power and Utah regulators say the technology is not there yet.
They estimate pollution controls would cost an estimated $1 billion for each of the four operating units at Huntington and Hunter.
President Barack Obama announced the Clean Power Plan in 2015, asserting the EPA revision would eliminate the single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.
The reduction in emissions would be equivalent to the removal of 166 million cars, or 70% of the nation’s passenger vehicles.
Obama’s EPA plan additionally was touted to eliminate by 2030:
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of Dec. 31, 2022, there were 25,378 electric generators at about 12,538 utility-scale electric power plants in the United States. The administration said the 173 coal-fired units closing between now and 2030 are located in 33 states, and another 55 units with announced closure dates between 2031 and 2040 are spread across 17 states.
Overall, by the end of 2030, the administration said 80 gigawatts of coal generation is currently set to close. As of the end of 2022, U.S. coal-fired capacity fell below 200 gigawatts, a 38% decline. Power production has fallen even faster: in 2022, coal produced only 20% of the sector’s electricity, less than half its market share a decade ago.
Critics fear the current rate of closures is untenable given the lack of baseload power that has been sufficiently developed to step in and take its place.
“Rural electricity is the foundation of the American economy. EPA’s rule recklessly undermines that foundation by forcing the premature closure of power plants that are critical to keeping the lights on,” Matheson said, “especially as America increasingly relies on electricity to power the economy.”
Utah’s coal use for power has been on a downward trend like the rest of the country. The administration said that in 2023, coal made up 46% of net power generation, down from 75% in 2015. In that same time period, natural gas reliance grew from 20% to 34% and utility scale solar grew from 0.1% to 11% of the state’s share of electricity generation.
Correction: An earlier version said coal made up 46% of net power generation in Utah in 2023, down from 75% in 2023, but should have said down from 75% in 2015.