Midwest utility to shut coal-burning power plants
www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/26/2610545/midwest-utility-to-shut-coal-burning.html
By BOB DOWNING
Thursday, 01.26.12
Akron Beacon Journal
AKRON, Ohio — FirstEnergy Corp. on Thursday said it will retire six coal-fired power plants, including four in Ohio, because of stricter federal anti-pollution rules.
The six older and dirtier plants will be closed by Sept. 1.
“It was a tough decision,” said Charles D. Lasky, vice president of fossil fleet operations for FirstEnergy Generation Corp.
FirstEnergy will be among the first American utilities to close aging, polluting power plants after tighter federal clean-air rules were finalized last month.
FirstEnergy had been keeping a close eye on proposed federal rules on mercury, heavy metals and air toxics from coal-burning power plants for years, Lasky said.
The new rules provided FirstEnergy with “sufficient certainty” to proceed with the closings, he said.
The federal mandate that improvements be completed within three years was a factor in the decision to retire the six plants, which represent 12 percent of the utility’s generation capacity, he said.
The decision affects 529 workers who will be eligible for severance benefits, the Akron-based utility said.
It indicated that the number of affected workers might be less because some might be considered for other openings within the company and because of a new retirement benefit being offered to workers 55 and older.
About one-third of those 529 workers are eligible for retirement. The utility has about 100 openings in its fossil fuel division, officials said.
The plants to be closed are:
-Bay Shore Plant, Boilers 2-4, in Oregon, Ohio, outside Toledo. One boiler with anti-pollution equipment will remain open.
-Eastlake Plant with five boilers, Eastlake.
-Ashtabula Plant, Ashtabula.
-Lake Shore Plant, Cleveland.
-Armstrong Power Station, Adrian, Pa.
-R. Paul Smith Power Station, Williamsport, Md.
The Eastlake plant is the largest, capable of producing 1,233 megawatts; the Williamsport plant is the smallest at 116 megawatts.
The average age of the six plants is 55 years, Lasky said.
The closings were triggered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS), which were finalized Dec. 21.
Reducing emissions of mercury, heavy metals and airborne toxics from coal-burning power plants will protect people’s health, the EPA said.
Installing anti-pollution equipment on small, old power plants was not economically feasible, FirstEnergy concluded.
Lasky declined to say how much it would have cost FirstEnergy to equip the plants with bag houses, activated carbon filters and lime or sorbent injection systems to meet the new federal rules.
FirstEnergy saw no advantage to waiting to see whether legal challenges might overturn the new rules, said Ray Evans, executive director of environmental for FirstEnergy Services.
In some cases, there is not enough land around the old plants to install anti-pollution equipment, he said.