SUGAR LAND--August 9, 2011--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Electric utilities have announced the closure of dozens of coal-fired power plants, totaling thousands of megawatts (MW) of capacity in response to two recent power-plant emissions regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Washington, D.C.).

EPA finalized its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule in early July. This spring, the agency also released a draft rule on reducing power-plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants using Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT). The agency is expected to finalize its MACT rule later this year.

Companies featured: American Electric Power Company Incorporated (NYSE:AEP), Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK), The Southern Company (NYSE:SO), NiSource Incorporated (NYSE:NI), Babcock & Wilcox Company (NYSE:BWC), Westar Energy Incorporated (NYSE:WR), DPL Incorporated (NYSE:DPL), Vectren Corporation (NYSE:VVC)