Georgia Power Plan to Leave Coal Ash in Groundwater Could be Upended by New EPA rule

Georgia Power Plan to Leave Coal Ash in Groundwater Could be Upended by New EPA rule

19 Georgia’s legacy coal ash ponds, landfills could have to comply with new environmental regulations. by Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder April 27th, 2024

Georgia Power’s Plant Scherer, right, and its Ash Pond 1, upper left, in September of 2023. Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday the final adoption of rules aimed at significantly reducing fossil fuel power plant pollution across the country.

Several clean energy nonprofits hailed the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic announcement as a powerful federal law that will reduce health risks associated with toxic metals disposed of in coal ash ponds and landfills, a byproduct of now-shuttered Georgia Power plants.

The EPA on Thursday also announced three other final rules designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and from new natural gas turbines. The new emissions standards will force existing coal plants to cut their carbon emissions by 90% by 2032 if they intend to keep running past 2039.

“Today, EPA is proud to make good on the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision to tackle climate change and to protect all communities from pollution in our air, water, and in our neighborhoods,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “By developing these standards in a clear, transparent, inclusive manner, EPA is cutting pollution while ensuring that power companies can make smart investments and continue to deliver reliable electricity for all Americans.”

Under the new policy, Georgia’s largest utility company may be forced to abandon plans to let coal ash sit in groundwater at some of its older plants. Georgia Power once operated nine coal-fired power plants across the state. It’s unclear how the new rules would apply to three natural gas generators the company now plans to build at Plant Yates in Coweta County.

Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Director G Webber commended the EPA for implementing standards that will protect Georgia communities from serious health threats posed by more than 90 million tons of toxic coal ash.

For the first time, 19 of Georgia’s legacy coal ash ponds and landfills could have to comply with new environmental regulations, the Sierra Club said.

“For far too long, many of the sites where this toxic material is stored have been allowed to skirt important regulations that protect our families and communities from the serious health risks posed by this legacy pollution,” Webber said in a statement. “Closing this loophole is common sense: It doesn’t matter when this toxic material was dumped, it remains dangerous and should be treated as such.”

Power companies weigh in on new policy

On Thursday several power industry organizations blasted the rules as a threat to jobs and electric reliability at a time when power demands are surging. They also criticized the rule’s reliance on what they called largely unproven carbon capture technologies.

America’s Power, a trade association for coal power plants across 42 states, views the latest EPA clean energy plan as an expensive overreaction that will threaten electricity reliability.

America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth called the rule “an extreme and unlawful overreach that endangers America’s supply of dependable and affordable electricity.”

“Already, utilities have announced plans to shut down more than 60,000 megawatts of coal-fired generation over the next five years,” she said.

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents 220 million Americans who receive electricity from investor-owned electric companies, highlighted the progress made by power companies in drastically cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

“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,” Edison CEO Dan Brouillette said in a statement.

Many experts expect the regulations to be litigated, particularly the carbon rule, since the last time the EPA tried to restrict carbon emissions from power plants, a group of states led by West Virginia mounted a successful legal challenge that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

In recent years, Georgia Power officials have noted significant progress in reducing its carbon footprint, including a 60% reduction in carbon emissions since 2007 and a 95% reduction in other emissions since 1990.

The state’s largest electricity supplier and state regulators drew the ire of Georgia environmental groups last week with the adoption of an updated plan that calls for significantly extending fossil fuel capacity to meet a rapidly growing commercial demand.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said that the EPA is serving notice to the region’s major utility companies that are planning to build more capacity using fossil gasses that now account for about 25% of the nation’s greenhouse emissions.

“Even though EPA has had the proposed version of these rules on the books for about a year, major utilities, including Duke, Georgia Power, TVA, Dominion Energy South Carolina, and Santee Cooper have failed to adequately plan to comply with the rules, while committing tens of billions of ratepayers’ dollars to gas projects subject to these rules,” wrote Chris Carnevale, Climate Advocacy Director for the southern energy alliance. “(Thursday’s) announcement sends a clear signal: utilities and regulators must rethink the reckless drive toward a risky gas-dominant future.