Repeal restores regulatory certainty for North Dakota’s coal communities while the lignite industry continues to advance carbon capture technology
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 14, 2026
Bismarck, N.D. — The Lignite Energy Council (LEC) today applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final repeal of major portions of the 2024 greenhouse gas regulations for existing coal-fired power plants, along with the EPA’s proposal to rescind the remaining greenhouse gas standards for the power sector. The LEC said the action restores regulatory certainty for the state’s coal fleet and the communities that depend on it, while reaffirming that a stronger, more affordable electric grid and continued environmental progress can move forward together.
The 2024 rule required coal plants intending to operate past 2038 to achieve 90 percent carbon capture by January 1, 2032, or face requirements tied to an earlier retirement. For North Dakota, whose lignite industry supports roughly 12,000 jobs and $5.5 billion in economic activity through mine-mouth plants tightly tied to their host communities, the forced early retirement of even one plant would have rippled through mines, contractors and the local tax bases that fund schools and infrastructure.
“Today’s action is a major step toward restoring regulatory certainty and recognizing the essential role coal-fired generation plays in maintaining a reliable and affordable electric grid,” said Jonathan Fortner, President and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council. “The 2024 rule gave America’s long-term coal plants an impossible choice: install carbon capture on an extremely aggressive federal timeline or plan for retirement. That approach ignored the very different circumstances facing individual power plants across the country, and in North Dakota it threatened not just power plants, but the mines, jobs and communities built around them.”
Fortner emphasized that the repeal is not a retreat from environmental responsibility. It corrects a rule structured in a way that made compliance nearly impossible: there were not enough qualified carbon capture suppliers worldwide, not every plant sits on geology suited to permanent CO2 storage or near the needed pipeline infrastructure, and the technology itself had not been proven at full commercial scale on the aggressive schedule the rule demanded.
LEC has said the structure of the 2024 rule made clear its purpose was less about improving air quality than about forcing coal plants to close, regardless of the consequences for grid reliability or the communities that depend on them. By tying compliance to an unachievable timeline, the rule left plants with only one realistic option: retire early, removing dependable generation from the grid at a time when electricity demand is rising.
“Repealing an unworkable mandate does not mean walking away from environmental progress,” Fortner said. “North Dakota is one of only 4 states that have never violated federal EPA ambient air quality standards. Our state is home to some of the nation’s most active carbon capture research and demonstration work. We’ve invested years of effort and significant resources into advancing carbon capture, utilization and storage because we believe it can play an important role in the long-term future of coal. But carbon capture cannot be treated as a one-size-fits-all federal mandate on a timeline the technology and the supply chain cannot support.”
That risk is not hypothetical. This July, PJM set an all-time demand record as wind and solar output collapsed during peak hours, and SPP and MISO, which both serve parts of North Dakota, declared emergencies under record strain. North Dakota’s lignite plants ran at full output throughout. Removing reliable baseload power from the grid raises electricity costs, while simultaneously raising the risk of blackouts.
North Dakota demonstrates the value of coal generation
North Dakota provides a particularly strong example of the importance of preserving existing coal generation. The state’s lignite power plants operate as mine-mouth facilities, with generating stations located next to the mines supplying their fuel. This model reduces transportation costs and utilizes billions of dollars of existing investment in mines, generating facilities and transmission infrastructure.
North Dakota also sits atop an estimated 800-year supply of recoverable lignite coal, providing a secure domestic fuel supply that is not dependent on pipelines, imports from foreign countries, or long-distance fuel transportation.
That infrastructure and abundant fuel supply have helped North Dakota maintain some of the most affordable electricity in the United States. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, North Dakota had the lowest average retail electricity price of any state in 2025, at 8.20 cents per kilowatt-hour.
“At a time when electricity demand is growing rapidly, it makes little sense to prematurely strand billions of dollars of productive infrastructure and eliminate generating resources that can operate for decades,” Fortner stated. “America should be preserving and strengthening its dependable generating resources, and giving industry the time and support it needs to keep advancing technologies like carbon capture, not regulating reliable power out of existence before those technologies are ready.”
EPA action changes course from 2024 requirements
EPA finalized the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act. For existing coal-fired generating units intending to operate beyond 2038, EPA designated CCS with 90 percent capture as the basis for the emission standard, with a compliance date of January 1, 2032.
The rule established different requirements for plants committing to earlier retirement. Coal units planning to permanently cease operation before January 1, 2039, were subject to a separate standard, while facilities committing to close before January 1, 2032, were exempt from additional emission-reduction requirements under the rule.
EPA announced September 14 that it is repealing the majority of the 2024 greenhouse gas requirements and simultaneously proposing to rescind the remaining greenhouse gas emission requirements applicable to power plants.
“We appreciate Administrator Zeldin and the Trump administration recognizing the importance of reliable baseload generation and taking action to provide greater certainty for the future of America’s coal fleet,” Fortner concluded.
About the Lignite Energy Council
The Lignite Energy Council, the voice for North Dakota’s coal industry, is a regional trade association representing lignite producers, electric utilities, and more than 150 businesses that supply goods and services to the mines and plants. The Council plays a vital role in supporting an industry that generates approximately $5.5 billion in gross business volume annually and contributes $100 million in state and local tax revenues. The lignite industry also facilitates 12,000 direct and indirect jobs across the state, strengthening North Dakota’s economy and energy landscape.