With the Environmental Protection Agency set to finalize rules for mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants on Dec. 16 and to begin regulating cross-state air pollution from coal-fired plants on Jan. 1, here is a breakdown of the numbers:
27: States required to significantly improve air quality by reducing power plant emissions that contribute to ozone and/or fine particle pollution in other states, according to the EPA.
13,000 to 14,000: Premature deaths annually the EPA says will be avoided by implementing the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. In addition, the EPA says the rule will cause the avoidance of 15,000 nonfatal heart attacks each year, as well as 19,000 hospital and emergency department visits, 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis, 420,000 cases of upper and lower respiratory systems, 400,000 cases of aggravated asthma and 1.8 million days of missed work or school.
8: Percent of the country’s electric or generating capacity that is likely to be retired as result of EPA rules, according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission report cited by former Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh in a November editorial.
33 million: Dollars to retrofit or replace about 62,000 MW of coal-fired generation, according to a mid-November report from Reuters.
750 million: Dollars to install pollution controls to the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico, according to the Farmington Daily-Times.
1.6 billion: Dollars the Michigan utility Consumers Energy said it would spend cutting pollution at its coal-fired power plants. The utility plans to shutter some units and no longer plans to build a low-emission coal unit, according to a DOW Jones Newswire report.
700 million: Dollars required by Ohio-based American Electric Power Corp. to comply with the MACT rule for upgrades that CEO Michael G. Morris said would provide “marginal” environmental benefits.
85: Percent of the nation’s electric fleet that is unaffected by the EPA rules or are ready to comply with them, according to a post by the environmental organization Ceres.
59 billion to 140 billion: Dollars the EPA says will be saved on health care costs in 2016 by implementing the MACT rule.
251,291: Jobs at risk from the implementation of MACT rule and subsequent retirement of coal-fired plants, according to July comments to the EPA by the Unions for Jobs and the Environment.