Luminant Energy, the largest power generator in Texas, filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, and asking that the court invalidate the rule as it applies to Texas, seeking a stay of the rule while the lawsuit is pending. The company will close coal-fired electrical generating facilities in Texas to comply with the rule. With the deadline to file lawsuits over the rule looming, GenOn Energy Inc. filed a similar petition with the same court September 13. The rule, which was published August 8, requires power plants in 27 Eastern and Midwestern states to reduce interstate transport of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Standard & Poor predicted that the rule will require the domestic electricity industry to scramble to meet new emissions limits by the January 1 implementation date. Options to meet compliance include a combination of retrofitting plants with emissions-reducing scrubbers, switching to low-sulfur coal, and retiring older plants.