New EPA Rules Stack ‘Uneconomic’ Costs on Coal-Fired Power Plants: GOP Critics

House Republicans say Biden-imposed directives could unplug more than 200 power plants nationwide, including Montana’s dominant provider.

The smoke stacks at American Electric Power's (AEP) Mountaineer coal power plant in New Haven, W.Va., on Oct. 30, 2009. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration’s directive demanding that coal- and gas-fired electricity plants cut carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent by 2039 is likely a death knell for about 200 power utilities nationwide, industry officials have warned since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) included it in a four-rule regulatory package posted on April 25.

Among those imperiled are NorthWestern Energy’s 40-year-old generating plants in Colstrip, Montana, which provide power to two-thirds of the state’s homes and businesses and customers in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Yellowstone National Park.