In what many are calling the strongest federal action to combat climate change in U.S. history, President Obama will announce regulations Monday morning aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power sector 32% nationwide by 2030.

The final rules are a strengthened version of a draft proposal released last June, which called for a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions from 2005 levels. Among several significant changes made to the draft proposal, the final rules will give states and electric utilities more time to implement the regulations, extending the initial compliance deadline to 2022, two years longer than originally proposed.

The final rules will also require states and utilities to use more renewable energy, raising the share of generation that renewables should account for from 22% to 28% by 2030. New coal units could only meet the standards with technologies that capture carbon emissions or convert coal into a synthetic gas for cleaner burning. Efficiency standards and under-construction nuclear plants were left out of state goals under the plan, but are still available as compliance options, according to a White House fact sheet on the regulations.

When word got out last week that the Obama administration was going to give states and utilities more time to comply with new carbon regulations under the final Clean Power Plan, many environmentalists wondered if the finalized rules would be enough to meet the Obama administration’s climate change goals.

The administration acted quickly to quell the concerns, insisting through Chief of Staff Denis McDonough that the final rule would be stronger than the one proposed last year, despite the extended timeframe.

It appears McDonough wasn’t just telling the environmental community what they wanted to hear, as the finalized Clean Power Plan requires deeper emissions cuts and an increased reliance on renewable resources. The revised plan keeps its original structure — setting out three “building blocks” for states to follow in reducing emisisons — but jettisons the fourth building block, which pushed states to reduce electricity consumption through energy efficiency.

Read more at: utilitydive.com