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News
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LCG, April 29, 2025--Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) today outlining the state’s plans to administer programs related to carbon storage wells, known as Class VI wells. The MOA signing is a required step in the RRC’s application to be granted authority to permit Class VI wells in the state of Texas. EPA is currently preparing a proposed approval of RRC’s primacy application.
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LCG, April 24, 2025--Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) announced yesterday an agreement with Calpine Corporation (Calpine) to transport and permanently store up to 2 million metric tons per annum (MTA) of CO2 from Calpine’s Baytown Energy Center, a natural gas-fired facility located near Houston, Texas. This is part of Calpine’s Baytown Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project that is designed to add CCS for the facility’s CO2 emissions. The Calpine facility could then provide a 24/7 supply of low-carbon electricity to the Texas grid plus steam to nearby industrial facilities.
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Industry News
Court of Appeals Vacates EPA's CSAPR
LCG, August 23, 2012--The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, overturned on Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), which targets emission reductions. The court's action provides some level of regulatory relief with respect to sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions for owners of coal-fired power plants located in 28 states.
CSAPR would have replaced a rule promulgated by the EPA in 2005, the Clean Air Interstate Rule ("CAIR"). The court opinion stated that the CSAPR exceeded the EPA's statutory authority which only requires upwind states to reduce "significant contributions" to a downwind state's pollution levels. In addition, the court found that the rule did not allow the states an opportunity
to establish their own State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to reduce emissions, as provided for in the Clean Air Act (CAA).
Attorneys general from mostly Southern and Midwestern states brought the legal action against CSAPR, and interveners include a number of utilities that own coal-fired power plants.
CSAPR "had potentially far-reaching reliability impacts for a grid in which electric use is growing far more rapidly than new generation resources are being built to serve that need," said the chief executive of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which oversees power delivery for most of Texas.
The EPA is reviewing the decision to determine whether or not it will appeal the ruling. CAIR will remain in place while the EPA is directed to promulgate a new rule complying with the Court's decision and the Clean Air Act.
Owners of coal-fired plants will need to continue to address regulatory pressures from the EPA's Mercury Air Toxics Standard (MATS), together with evolving water and coal combustion residue (CCR) regulations. Setting aside regulatory challenges, low natural gas prices provide a competitive challenge for coal plants as well.
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UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
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UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
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UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
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PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
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