Biden-Harris Admin's Gas-Fired Power Plant Crackdown Faces Day One Reversal Under Trump: 'Regulatory Jihad'

The Biden-Harris administration's regulations targeting emissions from natural gas-fired power plants are ripe to be struck down on day one of the incoming Trump administration.

President-elect Donald Trump vowed to terminate the regulations during his campaign, accusing the administration of unleashing "a regulatory jihad to shut down power plants all across America." Unlike other environmental rules that Trump vowed to gut, such as those designed to force electric vehicle purchases, the natural gas power plant rules haven't been finalized and can be rescinded without a drawn-out regulatory process.

Critics have argued that the Biden-Harris administration's efforts to regulate power plants would strangle investment in reliable power generation, potentially triggering more blackouts and higher consumer costs. Alternative green power sources, like wind and solar, are dependent on favorable weather conditions, meaning they are less reliable than fossil fuel-fired plants that can be turned on and off with the flip of a switch.

Existing natural gas plants are the largest source of power in the country, generating 43 percent of the nation's electricity. They have nonetheless been a favorite target for Democrats, who have for years loudly advocated for dramatic fossil fuel power shutdowns in an attempt to decrease emissions.

If the Environmental Protection Agency does finalize the Biden-Harris administration's rules prior to Trump's inauguration, Congress would likely pass—and Trump would likely sign—a resolution to overturn them. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can overturn all federal rulemakings within 60 session days of their finalizing. That means Republicans can reverse all federal rules finalized since the summer come next year.

"With President Trump’s victory, we have the opportunity to restore America’s energy dominance and safeguard our nation's power generation," Rep. Troy Balderson (R., Ohio), who has led GOP efforts to protect traditional power generation, said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.

Alongside Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.), Balderson authored a Congressional Review Act resolution earlier this year to overturn separate power plant regulations finalized in April. Balderson said he looks forward to working with Trump "to defend our energy security, protect our base load power, and ensure a reliable grid for the next four years and beyond."

The Environmental Protection Agency originally proposed the rules in May 2023 and crafted them to include all coal and natural gas power plants, both new and existing. But in April, the agency finalized regulations impacting only coal plants and new natural gas plants, punting on the more impactful rules targeting existing natural gas plants.

"Fixing the overregulation of our utilities should absolutely be a priority, especially given President Trump's commitment to slash energy prices for the everyday consumer," Mandy Gunasekara, who served as the Environmental Protection Agency's chief of staff during the previous Trump administration, told the Free Beacon in an interview. "A lot of this will be achieved by unleashing U.S. oil and gas, but it will also require getting rid of unnecessary regulations that add cost."

"What we've seen under the Biden administration is that the left is using EPA to restructure the economy to favor its preferred technologies, primarily wind and solar, over what actually works in terms of delivering affordable, reliable energy," she continued. "Fixing regulations that have legal problems and technical problems shouldn't just be a priority, I think it is part of the mandate for the America-first vision that voters just overwhelmingly supported President Trump to implement."

Overall, the Biden-Harris administration said the power plant rules would reduce carbon emissions by about 617 million metric tons through 2042. The rules would force power plant operators to adopt costly carbon capture technology or shut down. Such technology hasn't been deployed at scale and has faced criticism from the power industry.

Four of the nation's grid operators, which collectively oversee the power grid serving more than 150 million Americans, said grid reliability will "dwindle to concerning levels" under the Biden-Harris administration's power regulations. And the Edison Electric Institute, which represents the largest power providers in the country, sued over the rules.

"This rule is already impacting investment decisions and integrated resource plans. There is harm being done the longer you wait," said Brent Bennett, the policy director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Life:Powered initiative.

Bennett, however, noted that the Trump administration is likely to face litigation regardless of how it proceeds on the issue. Environmental groups can choose to file a petition for rulemaking to force the administration to regulate existing gas power plants, something they did during the Bush administration to force the federal government to regulate tailpipe emissions.

If the Trump administration does decide to issue regulations, albeit ones that are far less stringent than the Biden-Harris administration's, it could also face a string a lawsuits. During Trump's first administration, energy officials issued the so-called Affordable Clean Energy rule to replace the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.

"For Trump to deliver on his manufacturing and new technology renaissance, the EPA needs a total transformation," an energy industry official told the Free Beacon. "Huge opportunity to unleash American innovation if he can start nixing some of these ridiculous rules and regs ASAP."

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