The EPA is expected to finalize a rollback of Biden-era carbon rules for power plants as soon as Monday. The move would strike a 2024 rule that required existing coal plants to capture most of their carbon emissions by 2039 or shut down. The agency also plans to propose undoing its determination that greenhouse gases from power plants endanger public health under the Clean Air Act. According to people familiar with the timing, the announcement is likely to land while G20 energy ministers meet in Houston. It follows earlier EPA reversals on vehicle emissions and the broader 2009 endangerment finding. A 2022 NYU analysis found that if the US power sector were its own country, it would rank sixth globally for emissions. For investors, the rollback shifts regulatory risk in the power sector again. Utilities with heavy coal exposure may see less pressure to retire plants or install carbon capture, while CCS project pipelines that depended on the rule face fresh uncertainty. The change could ripple into power prices, renewable competition, and long term emissions plans.
