Zeldin Repeals Biden Power-Plant Carbon Rules, Projects $310 Billion in Savings

September 15, 2026

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Monday in Houston that the agency has finalized repeal of most of the Biden administration’s 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards for fossil-fuel power plants, a move the agency projects will save $310 billion.

Zeldin made the announcement at the G20 Energy Abundance Ministerial, joined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and National Energy Dominance Council Executive Director Jarrod Agen. The same day, EPA proposed rescinding every remaining greenhouse-gas emission standard for the power sector. That proposal, if finalized, would save an additional $370 million in direct compliance costs, the agency said, plus broader savings across electricity, manufacturing, and household bills.

“For over 15 years, the Obama and Biden administrations implemented a war on coal to destroy reliable and affordable energy,” Zeldin said. “The Trump Administration has come in to protect American energy and to make sure you can afford to keep the lights on. Americans will see a decrease in electricity prices, but this is just the beginning.”

The 2024 rule required existing coal plants and some new gas plants to capture the large majority of carbon dioxide or shut down on a timeline running into the 2030s. EPA now says those standards exceeded the agency’s authority under Clean Air Act Section 111. The agency’s legal memo argues the rule demanded control technologies that are not “adequately demonstrated,” forcing retirements instead of setting standards plants could meet.

EPA also says the 2024 package failed to account for the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in West Virginia v. EPA, which barred the agency from using the Clean Air Act to shift the national generation mix. Officials tied the new proposal to last year’s repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding and to Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the 2024 decision ending Chevron deference.

In its statement, EPA said greenhouse-gas emissions from U.S. power plants “have no material impact on global climate change” and that eliminating them tomorrow would produce “no meaningful climate impact.” The agency further argued that claimed public-health harms are too remote and conjectural to support Section 111 regulation.

Power plants are the second-largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide after transportation. Environmental groups said they will sue. Those challenges are expected in the D.C. Circuit. EPA scheduled a virtual public hearing 15 days after Federal Register publication of the new proposal and a 45-day comment period.

The administration framed the repeal as a reliability measure. Baseload coal and gas, Zeldin said, support manufacturing, farm costs, and national security. EPA projected that coal used by the power sector could increase more than tenfold if the rules stay off the books. Whether plants actually restart or extend operations will depend on market prices, state regulators, and the courts.

Monday’s action completes a core piece of the deregulatory list Zeldin previewed earlier this year.