On August 31, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency
("EPA") proposed the Affordable Clean Energy ("ACE") rule
to replace the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan
("CPP"). Both rules set out guidelines for greenhouse gas
emissions from existing electric generating units
("EGUs") based on authority provided by Section 111(d) of
the Clean Air Act. The similarities between ACE and CPP end
there.
A Jones Day White Paper explores, in detail, the new
aspects of ACE that are likely to draw significant public comment.
Those aspects include, but are not limited to: (i) relying solely
on heat rate improvements to achieve reductions, rather than a
combination of heat rate improvements, increased gas-fired
generation, and increased renewables; (ii) allowing states to
select the appropriate reductions for coal-fired EGUs from a menu
of available techniques, rather than assigning hard-and-fast limits
that each state must achieve for all of its EGU emissions,
combined;
