Regulations 101 -- A Primer on EPA's Upcoming Power Plant Rule

The next step in Obama's regulatory plan for climate change will land Monday morning.  Unlike the rule for future power plants, this proposal will be much further-reaching, an effort to scale down the source of 40 percent of the country's climate warming gases by regulating the plants that are in operation today.  According to the schedule set last year in the Climate Action Plan, EPA must release a final rule by June 2015.  Once that happens, states have a year to submit plans to EPA for how they will comply with the rule.

It may force some states to overhaul their energy policies and could favor others that have taken a head start to establish climate policies.  It could cause electricity prices to rise but could also change how the electric sector -- from the power plant to the grid to the home or business -- operates. One of the few certainties of this regulation:  It will bring a lot of lawsuits.

Here is a look at the essential elements of Monday's proposed rule.

Regulations 101 -- A Primer on EPA's Upcoming Power Plant Rule