A report says 13 percent of coal-fired generation will come offline in 2025, which raises...More coal -fired power plants will close because of environmental regulations and competition from other energy sources than previously thought, according to federal watchdogs.
A Government Accountability Office report said 13 percent of coal-fired generation will come offline in 2025, compared with a 2012 estimate that ranged between 2 and 12 percent. The report said that raises concerns about having enough electricity supply to meet demand in certain situations, potentially increasing instances of blackouts.
"Recent and pending actions on the four existing regulations, as well as [ Environmental Protection Agency 's] recently proposed regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing generating units, may require additional agency effort to monitor industrys progress in responding to the regulations and any potential impacts on reliability," the report said.
In some respects, the 13 percent figure shouldn't be surprising. The EPA predicted coal would supply 30 percent of the nation's power in 2030, down from above 40 percent today, when it rolled out its proposed carbon emissions rule for existing power plants in June. The EPA carbon proposal aims to slash electricity emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Congressional Republicans on Capitol Hill have asked the EPA to more closely coordinate with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to study the effect its regulations would have on energy resource planning and reliability.
The GAO report said FERC, EPA and Energy Department officials regularly meet with regional grid operators. While the federal officials don't "formally analyze the information they obtain through these meetings," the GAO report said those officials "do not anticipate widespread reliability concerns."
Still, the threat of blackouts caused by a shortage of coal-fired generating capacity has loomed large in some parts of the country following last winter's "polar vortex." American Electric Power, the nation's most coal-dependent utility, for example, during the period used 89 percent of the capacity scheduled to go offline when EPA mercury and air toxics standards go into effect in 2016.
Fewer power plants than expected are being retrofitted to comply with the EPA mercury and air toxic standards, which aim to reduce emissions that cause heart and respiratory ailments. The GAO had predicted 102,000 megawatts of coal-fired power to undergo such changes, but only 70,000 megawatts appear on pace for compliance by 2025.
A report says 13 percent of coal-fired generation will come offline in 2025, which raises...