Industry groups warn of power grid strain under Biden's climate rule.
Power producers are warning that the Biden administration's new greenhouse gas rule could compromise the power network's reliability by pushing their older, dirtier coal and gas plants into retirement at an even faster pace than they are closing now. Power outages reached an all-time high in 2020 and are on the rise because of major climate-fueled weather disasters. The shift to electric vehicles and a push to switch other types of energy demand to electricity is expected to boost U.S. power consumption by 12 percent to 22 percent between 2021 and 2030, requiring a significant increase in generation capacity.