Electric Co-ops Welcome EPA Action to Repeal 2024 Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Rule, Urge Agency to Finish the Job

ARLINGTON, Va. - National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson today issued the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency's final rule to repeal key portions of the Biden-era power plant greenhouse gas emissions limits and proposed rule to repeal remaining restrictions on new natural gas plants:

"We appreciate the administration's action today to roll back portions of the Biden-era power plant greenhouse gas rule, which is unlawful, unrealistic and unachievable. The rule poses a serious threat to electric reliability and affordability. It also exacerbates the pressures facing America's electric grid by forcing critical existing power plants into early retirement and severely restricting the operation of new natural gas plants.

"As demand for electricity skyrockets, America's electric grid needs every available electron. While today's action is a major step and allows electric co-ops to continue operating their existing power plants, Biden-era limits on new natural gas plants remain in place. It is critical that EPA work quickly to finish the job and finalize the proposed rule released today. Until that happens, new natural gas plants will continue to be recklessly restricted from operating more than 40% of the time."

Electric cooperatives have plans to invest nearly $29 billion to bring more than 20 gigawatts of new natural gas generation online-enough energy to power 17 million American homes, provided those plants can run at full capacity. But this new generation will be prohibited from operating more than 40% of the time until today's proposed rule is finalized.

NRECA has long opposed the Biden rule and challenged it in court, an action bolstered by nearly a dozen member generation and transmission cooperatives. In August 2025, NRECA filed comments urging the Trump administration to repeal the Biden rule in its entirety, which the association said was necessary "to preserve affordable and reliable electricity."

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing nearly 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation's landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $15 billion annually in their communities.

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