The U.S. will have to slow the implementation of some key environmental regulations on electric power plants or suffer a significant loss in the amount of reserve energy available to the U.S. power grid, said an industry report released this week. Hundreds of gas-, oil-, and coal-powered plants—with a collective capacity of 76,000 megawatts—could be shuttered if new regulations aimed at improving water and air quality are implemented too quickly in coming years, said the North American Electric Reliability Corp., an industry funded group that monitors grid reliability. The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates the power plants, recently adopted new regulations that could force some old plants to be retired.
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