Coal’s ACE in the Hole? New Rule Still Faces Headwinds
The Trump administration has extended a potential lifeline to coal-fired power plants with its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule. Now the debate is about how much the plan will actually help coal generation.
Energy analysts and other industry experts who spoke with POWER on August 28 say the new rule, which would give individual states the power to determine how to regulate power plant emissions—or whether to regulate them at all—may not make a difference when it comes to the market for coal-based power.
Economic forces, which have increasingly favored natural gas and also renewable energy sources in recent years, have contributed to the fall of coal. And while Trump said the ACE rule is a replacement for the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP), the CPP has never been implemented due to protracted legal challenges, including a continuing stay of the rule by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Other regulations dealing with power plant emissions, including the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), along with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule, remain in force and continue to impact power plant operators.…