"Fate of Old Coal Plants May Hinge on New Toxic-Cutting Technology"

"With the Obama administration moving to impose tougher limits on toxic air pollution as well as emissions that lead to smog and acid rain, it's betting the private sector can add a new technology to the utility industry's arsenal.

It is a given that the new regulations will seal the fate of older and less efficient coal-fired power plants that are not worth enough to justify the expense of new pollution controls. But as U.S. EPA prepares to go final with its emissions rules later this year, the agency is taking flak from industry lobbyists who say the rules would be expensive enough to kill coal plants that would otherwise keep producing electricity at competitive prices.

People disagree on the number of coal-plant casualties to expect. EPA is predicting that coal plants with 10 gigawatts of capacity would be shuttered because of the new limits on mercury, heavy metals and acid gases that were proposed last month. Add in the upcoming Clean Air Transport Rule, which will limit soot- and smog-forming emissions that cross state lines, and the agency is expecting 25 gigawatts of retirements -- 8 percent of the U.S. coal fleet."

Gabriel Nelson reports for Greenwire April 13, 2011.