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Signature Sponsor
September 14, 2026 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to repeal federal carbon emission standards for coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, marking another significant change in federal energy and environmental policy under the Trump administration. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is expected to announce the final action Monday during a gathering of G20 energy ministers in Houston, Texas, where energy security, baseload generation and regulatory policy are among the issues under discussion.
The action eliminates carbon dioxide requirements established during the Biden administration for existing coal-fired generating units and certain new natural gas-fired power plants.
EPA initially proposed repealing the greenhouse gas standards in June 2025, arguing that the regulations imposed unnecessary costs on the power sector and created obstacles to maintaining affordable and reliable electricity supplies.
The regulations targeted by EPA included the Biden administration's 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards as well as earlier greenhouse gas requirements for fossil fuel-fired generating units.
Under the 2024 requirements, coal-fired generating units intending to operate well into the future faced increasingly stringent carbon dioxide limits, including requirements based on carbon capture and storage technology.
Coal plants planning to remain in operation beyond 2039 would have been required to capture or otherwise reduce approximately 90% of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2032. Certain new natural gas generating units operating at high capacity levels also faced standards based on achieving approximately 90% carbon dioxide reductions through carbon capture technology.
Coal producers, electric utilities and other opponents of the regulations have raised concerns about the availability and cost of carbon capture technology as well as the potential effect of the requirements on generating capacity and electric grid reliability.
EPA has maintained that eliminating the requirements will reduce regulatory costs and allow fossil fuel-fired generating facilities to continue contributing to the nation's electricity supply.
The Biden administration had estimated that its power plant carbon standards would prevent approximately one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions through 2047.
The electric power sector accounts for nearly one-quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Environmental organizations strongly oppose the rollback, arguing that eliminating the standards will increase greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately result in greater environmental and public health costs.
The repeal comes as the Trump administration continues to emphasize the importance of dispatchable power generation and domestic energy production amid rapidly increasing electricity demand.
The administration has taken several actions aimed at extending the operation of existing coal-fired generating facilities and reducing federal regulatory requirements affecting the coal industry and electric power sector.
EPA's action represents one of the most consequential changes yet to federal regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants and could have significant implications for coal plants that otherwise faced major investments in carbon capture technology or decisions about earlier retirement.
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