Electric co-ops demand repeal of EPA gas plant emissions rule
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- NRECA CEO Jim Matheson called the EPA rule's 40% capacity threshold and 2032 carbon capture requirement "untenable," saying the standard is "a significant threat to our ability to do our job."
- The 2024 EPA rule requires new gas plants running above a 40% capacity factor to use combined cycle combustion and install carbon capture for 90% of CO2 emissions by 2032.
- EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin proposed repealing all power-sector greenhouse gas standards in June 2025 and sent a "Carbon Pollution Standards Repeal" to OMB in May, but the 90-day review deadline passed without action.
- Oglethorpe Power Corp. CEO Annalisa Bloodworth called the rule "the most irrational environmental regulation I've personally encountered in my career," backing full repeal so co-ops can "plan and invest with confidence."
- Basin Electric CEO Todd Brickhouse said renewables at 30% of his portfolio cannot back data centers with 95–100% load factors, noting a 1,000-MW data center needs a combined cycle unit running "around the clock, 24/7, 365."
- Matheson rejected modifying the rule, saying carbon capture "is not commercially viable" and the 40% threshold "does not work for us."
Why it matters: Matheson, Bloodworth, Brickhouse and Tudor together cover about 60% of the U.S. cooperative family, so a stalled repeal directly affects power planning for a large share of rural America. OMB's missed 90-day review deadline means the Trump administration's promised rollback is now bottlenecked, delaying the relief co-ops say they need to invest in generation for data-center loads.
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