Three of Wall Street's biggest investment banks are set to announce today that they are imposing new environmental standards that will make it harder for companies to get financing to build coal-fired power plants in the U.S. Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley say they have concluded that the U.S. government will cap greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants sometime in the next few years. The banks will require utilities seeking financing for plants before then to prove the plants will be economically viable even under potentially stringent federal caps on carbon dioxide... "We have to wake up some people who are asleep," says Jeffrey Holzschuh, vice chairman of institutional securities at Morgan Stanley... The standards follow TXU Corp.'s proposal to build 11 coal-fired power plants in Texas -- a plan it scaled back to three last year... The banks are under pressure from environmental groups but say their bigger motive is financial... Two environmental groups -- Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council -- worked with the banks to develop the standards... But several utilities that helped draft the standards say they shouldn't have to pay for most of their allowances. Michael Morris, chief executive of American Electric Power Co., says his company believes it should get 90% to 95% free. [also refers to Southern Company, KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts), TPG (formerly Texas Pacific Group)]