EPA Power Sector Rules

American families and businesses expect the lights to stay on at a price they can afford. But that’s no longer a guarantee. Over the next five years, 19 states from Montana to Louisiana are at high risk of rolling blackouts during normal peak conditions. As NERC has noted in numerous reports, the reliability of the grid is already in jeopardy.

In May 2024, EPA finalized rules aimed at existing coal and new natural gas power plants. These rules will reduce available generation resources just as we are increasing our reliance on electricity to power more of the economy.

On March 12, 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency will reconsider the power plant rule and other Biden administration power sector regulations. NRECA looks forward to working with the agency to ensure that cooperatives can continue to provide reliable and affordable power while promoting a healthy environment.

NRECA believes the power plant rule is unlawful and unachievable and will jeopardize reliable power in the United States. Specifically, NRECA believes the final rule:

• Disregards the Law and Supreme Court Decisions: The rule violates the Clean Air Act because vast new authority of major economic and political significance without a clear statement from Congress. This disregards the “major qu​estions doctrine” and is inconsistent with the text, structure and context of Clean Air Act Section 111.​

• Requires the Use of Inadequately Demonstrated Technology: While carbon capture and storage is a promising technology, it is not yet widespread nor commercially available and thus has not been “adequately demonstrated” as is required. There are no units in the country currently achieving the rule’s required 90% carbon capture and storage rate consistently and while operating at baseload levels. Electric co-ops are national leaders in the testing and development of carbon capture. Because of that leadership in innovation, co-ops understand the complex challenges associated with making CCS work at every affected power plant.

• Mandates Unrealistic and Unachievable Timelines: There is insufficient infrastructure in place, especially massive pipeline networks, to support CCS and hydrogen, even assuming the technologies work as EPA envisioned. The necessary infrastructure cannot reasonably be expected to be in place in time to meet the rule’s requirements.

• Jeopardizes Reliability and Affordability: The final rule will reduce key generating resources, magnifying today’s reliability challenges with grave consequences for an already stressed electric grid. All of this will occur while the demand for electricity skyrockets as we electrify more of the American economy. In short, the final rule will jeopardize reliability and result in more blackouts, higher costs and greater uncertainty for American families and businesses.

NRECA Fact Sheet on Power Plant Rule | March 2025
NRECA Press Release on Rule Reconsideration | March 12, 2025
Fact Sheet: What Co-op Leaders & Grid Operators Are​ Saying | July 25, 2024
NRECA Application for Stay: U.S. Supreme Court | July 23, 2024
NRECA Press Release on Supreme Court Application for Stay | July 23, 2024
NRECA Press Release on D.C. Circuit Court Denial of Stay | July 19, 2024
NRECA Stay Motion | May 13, 2024
G&T Declarations | May 13, 2024
NRECA Lawsuit (Petition for Review) | May 9, 2024
NRECA Press Release on Lawsuit | May 9, 2024
NRECA Press Release on Final Rule | April 25, 2024
NRECA Comments on Power Plant Rule Supplemental Notice | Dec. 20, 2023 
NRECA Comments to the EPA | Aug. 8, 2023
NRECA Press Release on Proposed Rule | Aug. 8, 2023

As part of the lawsuit against the EPA power plant rule, NRECA and 10 electric co-ops submitted statements of harm to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit outlining how the rule threatens reliable, affordable electricity. View summaries of these statements​.

• U.S. Grids Face Greater Risks as Generators Retire, Demand Rises (Reuters)
• Top Power Grid Watchdog Warns Fossil Fuel Shutdowns Could Destabilize Future Reliability (Fox Business)
• Dangerous Winter Blackouts Could Affect More Than Half of U.S., Report Finds (CBS News)
• Nation at Risk of Winter Blackouts as Power Grid Remains Under Strain (Washington Post)
• Biden’s Green Hydrogen Plan Hits Climate Obstacle: Water Shortage (Bloomberg)
• There’s a Lot of Talk About Hydrogen’s Potential. But Transportation Costs Represent a Big Challenge (CNBC)
• EPA Says Carbon Capture Is Within Reach. Utilities Aren’t Biting  (E&E News)