S&P has published its latest paper discussing the implications of President Trump's "recarbonization" policy for the U.S. power sector. President Trump's campaign pledge to reinvigorate coal-fired generation has since led to two momentous commitments: the gradual repeal of President Obama's Clean Power Plan (CPP) and America's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord.
Here are the report's key messages:
- It's unclear whether a rollback will benefit coal generators, whose demise is more accurately attributed to the rise of natural gas rather than regulatory hindrances.
- While the CPP is an obvious boon for renewables, their development to date has derived from state-level programs, and this is expected to be maintained over time.
- Nuclear will likely benefit from the removal of existing regulations that have increased operational costs.
- Repealing the CPP will be largely inconsequential for natural gas, since gas-fired generation has grown for economic reasons rather than regulatory advantage.
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