Utilities See Little Hoped-For Flexibility in New Carbon Rule (1)

Coal-fired utilities that opposed the Obama-era Clean Power Plan aren’t getting the flexibility that they had hoped for under the new Affordable Clean Energy rule to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Such flexibility “could have allowed us to comply [with clean-air standards] in a more cost-effective manner for our customers,” Duke Energy spokeswoman Shannon Brushe said.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, published July 8 in the Federal Register, would allow states to examine all coal-fired units within a given plant to determine what type of approach will make them more efficient and ...