EPA power plant rule targets coal. Does that spell trouble for the grid?

Piles of coal parked at the entrance of Baltimore Harbor are the gateway to one of the biggest fossil fuel plants in the mid-Atlantic region.

After years of public debate and litigation brought by the Sierra Club, the 1,283-megawatt Brandon Shores coal-burning power station is expected to close in 2025 under an agreement with its owner. If the plant retires, it will be another step in the nation’s decisive shift away from coal generation.

But Brandon Shores is also seen by some grid officials as a poster child for the threat to electric reliability posed by the quickening pace of closures of fossil fuel plants. And it illustrates the distance U.S. climate policy has to go to both usher polluting plants off the grid while guaranteeing electricity can be generated and shipped from elsewhere to meet rising demand. It’s a dynamic underscored by EPA’s power plant rule release last week, which calls for coal generating plants and large new natural gas plants to capture most carbon emissions by 2032 or get on a retirement schedule. The rules could be eased in grid emergencies.

To continue reading the article follow: EPA power plant rule targets coal. Does that spell trouble for the grid? – E&E News by POLITICO (eenews.net)