The EU's methane rule pause may not help energy prices

The EU’s decision to delay the implementation of its methane regulations won’t help consumers much, environmental groups argued.

European officials decided this week to delay the regulation — which was meant to come into effect in January 2027 to introduce stronger reporting requirements for energy companies’ methane emissions — after facing pressure from industry stakeholders and French leadership, who argued it would further drive up energy prices.

However, a Carbon Limits report found that compliance would cost between 0.03-0.6% of production value. “We’re not saying [the regulation] has no impact [on prices]. We’re saying that it is not driving any of these massive [cost] burdens you’re seeing, and therefore can’t solve [them] either,” Léa Pilsner, the Environmental Defense Fund’s energy policy director, told Semafor. The legislation also shifts the deadline for setting intensity standards for methane emissions from imported fuel, “which is really where you start seeing the benefits when it comes to the climate,” she added.