(Pardon my map’s appearance, it’s a work in progress.)
These are the power plants in (or within 100km) of Pennsylvania, that have been exempted, by executive order/proclamation, from new EPA rules on mercury and other toxic emissions. The new rules would have required these plants to reduce “MATS” (Mercury and Air Toxics Standards) emissions starting in July 2027; the proclamation gave these plants, and others across the country, a two-year reprieve on compliance — until July 2029. Click on the power plant on the map, you’ll see more info for that plant.
I created the map because I was interested in what the ecological and health effects of this exemption might be, but I kind of ran into a roadblock: I couldn’t find much information on current MATS emissions from these plants. I eventually found emissions data for some plants, but not all. So for now I list it if I have it, plus some pertinent information, to me at least, for each facility. Among other things, I mention the main fuel type (mostly coal or coal refuse), the number and types of boilers at each facility, and the total heat energy produced. I got this info from the EPA’s Clean Air Market Program. All data is for 2023.
I also included a link to each power plant’s web page in the Global Energy Monitor wiki, but to be honest some of those pages seem outdated and a bit unreliable.
Anyway, stay tuned for more information and improvements as I add/make them.
UPDATE (4/28/2025): I found some mercury emissions data. What I found shows emissions data for several plants, and for the others that they are in “MATS LEE” compliance, meaning I can probably derive a good estimate (or maybe just a “worst case” estimate) of their emissions as well. I’ll do some figuring and update the map when I can.
UPDATE (4/30/2025): I added mercury emissions and heat input data for all the units I could find. Also, some time between when I started this page and today, the Global Energy Monitor site got updated, so it’s looking a bit better.