Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
11/6/2015
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) this week lashed out again against the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently finalized carbon emissions standards for new and existing coal-fired power plants, this time in local media. “These regulations force coal-fired plants to meet emissions standards which simply can’t be achieved, at least not now, even with the most advanced technology,” Manchin wrote in an editorial published Nov. 2 in the Charleston Daily Mail.
The regulations, one for existing plants and one for new build plants, were published in the Federal Register on Oct. 23, the final action required by the Clean Air Act before legal and legislative challenges to the rules could be filed. Four Congressional Review Act challenges have been introduced against the rules, two each in the House and Senate. Manchin is thus far the only Democrat to sign on to both the challenge against the existing source rule, the Clean Power Plan, and the new-build rule, the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS). Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) joined Manchin on the Clean Power Plan resolution but has not signed the NSPS resolution.
In his editorial, Manchin argued that the rules set unobtainable goals for the nation’s coal industry. “For new plants, the plan requires carbon capture and storage (CCS), which has not been demonstrated at any commercial scale power plant anywhere in the world. So I’ve said this: if it is unobtainable and unaffordable, it is unreasonable.”
One small full-scale project is operational in Canada, on Unit 3 of SaskPower’s Boundary Dam plant. However, no CCS projects have reached operation in the United States, though progress continues. Southern Co.’s Kemper County Energy Facility in Mississippi is due to reach full operation in the first half of 2016 and will be the world’s first new-build coal-fired power plant to employ CCS. The plant, though, has been plagued by delays and cost overruns, with a current price tag of more than $6.4 billion, over double the initial estimate.
“Don’t force an industry to shut down because it cannot do something that has never been done. Forcing coal to meet these standards when experts know that the required technology is not sustainably operational on a commercial scale makes absolutely no sense,” Manchin wrote.
Coal currently comprises the largest chunk of the nation’s baseload energy, Manchin noted. However, the nation’s coal fleet is aging. “The nation’s coal-fired power plants currently have an average age of 45 years. Many will need to be replaced in the near future and regulations that prohibit building new coal-fired power plants can soon become a serious issue for the nation’s electricity reliability,” he wrote.
The NSPS does not prohibit construction of new plants, but does mandate the use of partial CCS to keep emissions below 1,400 pounds of CO2/MWh, a requirement that has been speculated will result in the end of any new coal development.
