La. plant may escape EPA rules

Two steam turbines at the Ninemile Point power plant - located on a peninsula directly across the Mississippi River from densely populated residential neighborhoods in New Orleans - emit more carbon dioxide than any gas-fired units in the U.S., according to an E&E News review of federal emissions data.

But neither would need to reduce emissions under EPA’s draft rule to limit pollution from power plants. 

The discrepancy illustrates the novel approach EPA took in crafting the standard, tailoring requirements to a plant’s fuel type, size and usage. 

As the agency seeks to green-up the nation’s electric grid, it is balancing the need to slash emissions - meeting climate targets - while ensuring it doesn’t shut down gas facilities that some industry groups say are needed to ensure grid reliability. 

“It is a balancing act ... how much to cover (and) how fast,” said Julie McNamara, deputy policy director of the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. 

EPA's challenge: How does it ensure unintended outcomes from setting different cut points for different sources in different places? she asked.

The Biden administration has grappled with that one. 

When EPA sent its draft rule to the White House, it contained standards for coal plants and future gas plants, but no rules for existing gas facilities. Those were added later at the WH's urging, E&E News reported last week. 

Few facilities illustrate those challenges like Entergy's Ninemile Point. The 2,439-megawatt gas plant in Bridge City. 

The plant has five electric generating units. Those five emitted 23M tons of carbon dioxide between 2018-22, according to EPA data, making Ninemile Point the sixth largest CO2 emitter among gas-burning power plants. 

It also ranked as America’s top gas-fired emitter of nitrogen oxide, an ozone-forming pollutant. 

Yet not all of Ninemile Point’s units would be regulated the same under EPA’s proposal. The plant’s two dirtiest units - from the 1970s - would effectively be given a free pass to continue polluting. 

That’s because EPA’s rule carves out a specific provision for gas-fired steam turbines. 

In 2022, Ninemile Point’s older steam turbines ran less than a third of the year. In its review, EPA concluded that installing carbon capture at such units would be costly and fail to produce significant reductions. 

Instead, EPA proposed capping emissions for gas-fired steam turbines based on how frequently they run. The cap would be set at a rate that most plants could achieve, but prevent increases in emission rates, according to EPA. Some environmentalists worry the move could backfire. (Climate Wire 05/25/23) Major polluter escapes EPA power plant rule - E&E News (eenews.net)