When President Donald Trump’s administration invited power plants to apply in March for an exemption to new federal restrictions on dangerous pollutants like mercury, the East Kentucky Power Cooperative went for it.
EKPC applied for – and received – a two-year exemption for both its coal-fired operations, the H.L. Spurlock Station in Mason County and the John Sherman Cooper Station in Pulaski County.
EKPC was among more than 40 utilities Trump granted an exemption to this month, letting them off the hook – at least temporarily – for complying with an updated version of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS.
Under former President Joe Biden, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency changed the MATS rule to require coal plants to dramatically lower releases of various hazardous air pollutants, including metals like arsenic, lead and mercury.
Hazardous air pollutants generally are linked to major health problems like cancer and developmental delays for children. Coal plants’ emissions of various air toxics were mostly unrestricted for many years until the federal government adopted the initial MATS rule in 2012 after litigation by environmental groups and other organizations.
The MATS rule is one of several federal regulations on hazardous air pollutants Trump’s team recently invited industrial operations to seek exemptions from.
“I mean, they are trying to bring back pollution,” said Sarah Vogel of the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund. “It’s kind of the only vision that I can see coming out of their administration, right?”
The Environmental Defense Fund, in partnership with other groups, put out a spreadsheet of over 500 U.S. operations that appear eligible for Trump’s exemptions. Nine Kentucky coal-fired power plants were on that list.
The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting contacted the utilities that run those plants to ask if they requested Trump’s offered exemption to the MATS rule. KyCIR learned a few did, while a couple others did not.
Spokespeople for the East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Tennessee Valley Authority and Big Rivers Electric Corp. confirmed they applied for it. Representatives for Duke Energy and for Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities said they did not ask to exempt their Bluegrass State coal plants.
Nick Comer, a spokesperson for the East Kentucky Power Cooperative, said: “Under the current administration, the EPA has demonstrated it is willing to prioritize reliable, competitive electricity for America’s homes and businesses. This is a refreshing and welcomed regulatory approach.”
Why three Ky. utilities sought exemption from stricter anti-mercury rule
Trump granted exemptions this month not only to East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s Spurlock and Cooper stations, but also to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Shawnee Fossil Plant in McCracken County and Big Rivers Electric Corp.’s D.B. Wilson Station in Ohio County.
Power plants are supposed to comply with Biden’s updated MATS rule by July 2027, but the exemption provides a two-year delay on that. In the meantime, they still have to meet an earlier, less strict version of the rule.
White House officials said the exemptions are needed because “the current compliance timeline of the Biden-era rule could force widespread coal plant shutdowns,” putting jobs and electrical grid stability at risk.
When Biden strengthened the MATS rule, his administration indicated many coal plants already could meet the new standards without further investment and expected “relatively minor impacts on the power sector.”
Comer, of the East Kentucky Power Cooperative, said the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule was part of a package of Biden-era regulations “aimed squarely at shutting down coal-fueled power plants as rapidly as possible.”
He discussed one issue the utility has with Biden’s revision of the rule, saying it’s “an example of how unreasonable EPA’s approach to regulation has been.”
“Under the MATS rule, EKPC would be forced to turn off a coal-fired unit if just one of 8,200 fabric filter bags gets a dime-sized hole,” he told KyCIR via email. “One dime-sized hole on a surface area the size of six football fields will shut down a coal unit and EKPC would then be forced to use a higher-cost resource to provide electricity while the hole is fixed.
“During a high-demand situation when resources are limited and market power is expensive, this could lead to tens of millions of dollars in costs for replacement power and market performance penalties.”
Comer said EKPC is “committed to protecting the environment and balancing sustainability alongside reliability and cost.” However, he said the EPA imposed restrictions that are “unachievable, unrealistic and unlawful.”
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which the federal government operates, offered a more general explanation for why it sought the exemption for its Shawnee plant in Kentucky. Trump approved exemptions for each of the utility’s U.S. coal operations.
“TVA’s four coal plants remain a critical part of our operating fleet. This exemption will allow TVA to keep running these assets in a cost-effective way and help ensure reliability for our 10 million customers,” spokesperson Scott Brooks said via email.
“TVA’s facilities will continue to comply with and meet previous and existing standards,” he said.
Big Rivers Electric Corp.’s CEO, Don Gulley, said getting an exemption for its D.B. Wilson Station “is a crucial first step in safeguarding our ability to generate reliable and cost-effective electricity for our members.”
“Even though the EPA found that current emissions were acceptable for public health, the agency revised the rule last year to reduce emissions to a costly and unnecessary level,” he said via an email from a company spokesperson.
Gulley said Biden’s revision of the MATS rule is “a federal overreach designed to force” more coal plants to close.
“Wilson Station already meets the tighter emissions target, except for dynamic periods, like unit start-up and shutdown,” he told KyCIR. “The revised rule would likely be unachievable with the current equipment and technology, requiring another multimillion-dollar project investment that would negatively impact our members.”
Why LG&E/KU and Duke Energy didn’t ask to exempt Ky. plants
LG&E and KU run coal plants in Mercer, Carroll, Jefferson and Trimble counties. Spokesperson Chris Whelan confirmed they didn’t request an exemption to the MATS rule. She said LG&E/KU “already implemented tighter controls, meaning that we are operating with thinner compliance margins and undertaking more stringent testing protocols.”
“The 2024 MATS rule does not impact our ability to continue to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy to our customers while continuing to comply with environmental regulations,” she said.
Like LG&E/KU, a spokesperson for Duke Energy told KyCIR the utility did not apply for an exemption for its Kentucky coal plant, East Bend Station in Boone County.
“After careful consideration of the statutory requirements necessary to seek a presidential exemption, Duke Energy determined that it was in the best interest of our customers not to seek an (exemption),” spokesperson Matt Martin said via email.
Beyond coal, Trump invited other industries to seek similar exemptions to anti-pollution rules
The Clean Air Act allows exemptions from certain standards if the president finds the technology to implement them is unavailable and that it’s in the country’s national security interests.
Vogel said Trump’s approach is taking “this one aspect of the Clean Air Act” that permits temporary rule suspensions and trying “to drive a freight truck through it.”
Trump’s administration floated exemptions to nine federal rules that deal with hazardous air pollutants emitted by industrial facilities, from coal plants to chemical and lime manufacturers.
Trump’s team also is reconsidering those same rules, meaning they eventually could move to drop the restrictions Biden added, instead of just granting short-term reprieves to individual facilities.
Public details are available on exemptions Trump granted so far to power plants for the MATS rule, but it’s unclear if exemptions have been granted yet for the other regulations. The White House didn’t respond to KyCIR’s request for comment on whether any more exemptions are approved.
The Environmental Defense Fund and other groups' joint analysis of which operations are seemingly eligible for such exemptions include 10 chemical manufacturing facilities and three lime manufacturing facilities in Kentucky.
However, not all the facilities included in the analysis may actually be eligible.
A spokesperson for lime-maker MLC told KyCIR the regulations Trump offered exemptions for don’t apply to their operation in Verona, Ky. And a representative for the Chemours Co. said the environmental groups’ analysis is “based on an outdated EPA list of facilities subject to” the federal “HON rule.” Spokesperson Cassie Olszewski said Chemours’ Louisville Works site is not subject to that regulation, and thus isn’t eligible for exemption.
An EDF spokesperson told KyCIR their team “used the most up-to-date facility list that is publicly available from EPA's proposed HON rule in 2023.”
Vogel, with EDF, noted information on which facilities actually applied for the exemptions is scarce, though they’re seeking public records about it.
KyCIR requested comment from the different companies with Kentucky-based industrial operations on EDF’s list but only heard back from Chemours and MLC.
Vogel said Trump’s exemptions to Clean Air Act rules on toxic pollution will be dangerous for communities across the country.
“For every dollar spent on cleaning up the air, the United States has seen like $30 in return,” she said of the Clean Air Act. “It's been an incredible law, and they're trying to take a, you know, sledgehammer to it.”
