The Continuing Impact of Coal Ash - Energy Law Insights
The methodology outlines a three-step approach for obtaining credits: retirement of coal-fired power plants, generation of replacement renewable electricity, and assurance of a just transition....more
Halloween is over, but spooky season just began for anyone that owned, or now owns, a coal-fired power plant. If not already, these facilities should be frightened about the potential liability implicated by the Hazardous and...more
On April 25, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a set of rules aimed at cutting air, water, and land pollution from fossil fuel-fired plants. The rules would require existing coal-fired and new gas-fired...more
The Cost of "Electrification" “Electrification” has become a ubiquitous term these days, although depending on who you ask, it might have different meanings. However defined, a critical component of electrification as a...more
A recent report released last week by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shows that hundreds of coal plant sites could host new nuclear reactors. Siting new nuclear at retiring coal sites, referred to as the...more
The local economies of many communities in the southwest are tied to the operations of large coal-fired power plants. As those plants start closing, the communities can face significant disruption in their local economies...more
On June 19, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final “Affordable Clean Energy” (“ACE”) rule to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (“CPP”), which was suspended by the U.S. Supreme Court after...more
Here’s my take on the Affordable Clean Energy Plan. Who cares? On the merits, it does almost nothing. It requires only that states impose heat rate improvement requirements on coal-fired power plants. It’s not going to...more
On Monday, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality issued determinations with respect to six Duke Energy coal plants, requiring that Duke close coal combustion residual surface impoundments at the plants by...more
United States Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) sent a December 13th letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: . . . expressing grave concerns regarding the...more
Several environmental organizations filed a Petition for Review (“Petition”) in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”)...more
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a proposed rule to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired power plants, a replacement for the Clean Power Plan (CPP) finalized by the Obama...more
As if the owners of coal-fired power plants did not have enough to worry about, two studies published last month concluded that the shutdowns of coal-fired power plants were associated with improvements in the reproductive...more
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday on whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unreasonably decided not to consider the cost of regulation when the EPA determined it was “appropriate and necessary” to...more