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FACT BRIEF

Is the Biden-Harris administration 'shutting down power plants all across the country'?

By Tom Kertscher
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NO

The Biden-Harris administration is not, as former President Donald Trump claimed, shutting down power plants nationally.

Trump singled out Vice President Kamala Harris in making his claim Oct. 7, 2024, in Juneau, Wisconsin.

Owners have retired coal plants because producing electricity from other sources is cheaper, and more plants powered by those sources have emerged, according to the Analysis Group consulting firm.

Power plants retired 5.1 gigawatts of electric generating capacity in the first half 2024, down from 9.2 in the first half of 2023.

They added 20.2 gigawatts of capacity during the first half of 2024, up 21% from a year earlier.

Trump’s campaign did not cite evidence to back his claim. It referred to a rule issued in April by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  

The rule requires coal-fired power plants by 2032 to capture smokestack emissions or shut down. Republicans say that will force premature shutdowns.

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
LiveNOW from FOX FULL SPEECH: Trump speaks in battleground Wisconsin | LiveNOW from FOX
Associated Press Strict new EPA rules would force coal-fired power plants to capture emissions or shut down
The Hill Opinion: America’s electric grid is on the brink with Biden’s Clean Power Plan 2.0
U.S. Energy Information Administration U.S. power grid added 20.2 GW of generating capacity in the first half of 2024 - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Analysis Group U.S. Coal-Fired Power Generation
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.