WASHINGTON (April 25, 2024) — Edison Electric Institute (EEI) President and CEO Dan Brouillette issued the following statement on the package of final rules for power plants released today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

“EEI’s member companies continue to lead our nation in delivering reliable, resilient clean energy, and we are proud that carbon emissions from the U.S. electric power sector are now as low as they were nearly 50 years ago, while electricity use has more than doubled. We remain committed to building on this progress, while maintaining customer reliability and assuring affordability, and we must have durable regulatory frameworks in place to do so. 

“EPA’s suite of new regulations will affect the generation sources that will be used to reliably power America’s increasingly electricity-dependent economy, and we appreciate the agency’s efforts to align compliance deadlines to help companies make informed resource planning decisions that minimize customer costs.

“While we appreciate and support EPA’s work to develop a clear, continued path for the transition to cleaner resources, we are disappointed that the agency did not address the concerns we raised about carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS is not yet ready for full-scale, economy-wide deployment, nor is there sufficient time to permit, finance, and build the CCS infrastructure needed for compliance by 2032.

“Electric companies across the country are investing in carbon-free technologies to ensure they satisfy industry performance requirements and support reliability at costs that are affordable for customers. While CCS and other 24/7 clean energy technologies could be important tools for reducing emissions in the future, EPA’s record does not support a finding that CCS is demonstrated today. 

“Affordable, reliable, and resilient clean energy is essential for America’s economic security, and we appreciate EPA’s efforts to include additional compliance flexibilities that will help EEI’s members address reliability concerns in the years ahead. We will remain engaged with EPA and with state agencies as they implement these rules. We also will continue to work constructively with EPA as it develops a new proposal for existing natural gas turbines.”