Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power, both subsidiaries of Ohio-based American Electric Power, have testified that upgrading the plants represents the best value for ratepayers. The West Virginia Public Service Commission must decide in the coming weeks whether to approve an environmental compliance surcharge on electricity customers. We had more snow when I was a kid. Theres also the delicate matter of what happens to the communities that depend on the plants for jobs and tax revenue, as well as the coal mines that supply them. The 1,300-MW Mountaineer Power Plant outside New Haven in Mason County, West Virginia, was completed in 1980. In that report, the examiner recommended that the SCC should approve only recovery of CCR-related costs. Until that rule is finalized, current regulations, including the 2015 and 2020 rules will be implemented and enforced, the EPA said. But one of the reports authors predicts they wont last to the end of this decade. Have the latest local news delivered every afternoon so you don't miss out on updates. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. . AEP has committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions and obtaining more of its power from renewable resources while also divesting itself of much of its coal-powered generating fleet. In its written testimony, AEP says the upgrades are economically justified for the Amos and Mountaineer plants and close to neutral for the Mitchell Plant. Report Predicts 3 Coal Plants Could Close Within 5 Years In separate December 2020submitted cost recovery filings with regulators in West Virginia and Kentucky, two other AEP subsidiariesWheeling Power and Kentucky Powerhad also sought cost recovery for CCR and ELG investments for another West Virginia coal plant, AEPs 1,560-MW, The West Virginia Public Service Commission (WVPSC) on Aug. 4 ultimately approved cost recovery for both CCR and ELG investments at all three plantsAmos, Mountaineer, and Mitchell. PSC Makes Right Decision on Coal-Fired Power Plants The early and simultaneous retirement of nearly two-thirds of the companys capacity would expose the company and our customers to an imprudent level of uncertainty and market volatility, she said. Curtis Tate/West Virginia Public Broadcasting Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power did not prudently manage their coal supplies in 2021 and 2022, leading to shortages of fuel and higher electricity costs, a consulting group has concluded. They are also the front line in a landmark environmental case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which will decide this spring how much authority the Environmental Protection Agency has to regulate earth-warming emissions from coal-fired power plants. They plan on retiring another 25 gigawatts through 2025. Share with Us. Such plants are becoming more scarce as the nation retires much of its coal fleet in a transition to other forms of electricity generation. AEP and all contractors that work within the plant are very nice and Cordial. The SCC on Monday approved a $27.44 million Virginia revenue requirement for the first year of an environmental rate adjustment clause (E-RAC)a rider that recovers expenses from AEPs Virginia customers associated with federal rules regulating the disposal of coal ash at the two plants in West Virginia. All three West Virginia plants must comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys rules for the disposal of ash from burning the coal and the wastewater generated by the plants. They also support, directly and indirectly, 6,600 jobs. In addition, Vistra Corp. said July 19 that it plans to shut down the 1,333-MW W.H. Sign up for our newsletter and get weekly updates. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Low 43F. We find it is critically important to analyze the overall impact of this investment on both customer rates and reliability, and that [for this specific expense] the instant record is currently lacking in both regards, the SCC said in its order. Das Naes Unidas 14401, Torre Hotel Chcara Santo Antnio So Paulo, BR-SP. Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Amos Plant uses dry fly ash handling and no longer requires use of the fly ash pond. Report Predicts 3 Coal Plants Could Close Within 5 Years - WMKY Litigation has complicated that plan, but EPA expects to unveil a new approach this summer. Former acting EPA general counsel Kevin Minoli calls West Virginia's Supreme Court challenge of EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions at power plants one of the most significant environmental cases in U.S. history. You all probably know that John Amos was a director for AEP and a native West Virginian. AEP installing scrubbers at John Amos Plant | Local News | register Coal-fired power plants peaked at 314 gigawatts of electricity in 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. When AEP has built new fossil fuel-powered plants in recent years, they have been gas burners. But one of the reports authors predicts they wont last to the end of this decade. The Ohio Valley ReSource gets support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and our partner stations. Taking Amos and Mountaineer out of service would not be a simple step for AEP. Close. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, If we instead retired one or both of the plants, we would have to spend billions of dollars on replacement capacity much earlier than necessary. By the start of 2020, that fell to 228.8 GW, a decline of 19.9%. Last week, they testified overwhelmingly in support of the plants in a public comment hearing. At John Amos Power Plant, Manchin Vows to Oppose New - Senate Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Since then, the agency has attempted to enact new limits on power plant carbon dioxide emissions, a primary driver of global warming. Still, power customers will have to pay those costs whenever the plants shut down. Sonal Patelis a POWER senior associate editor (@sonalcpatel,@POWERmagazine). Brookover, a 41-year-old father whose family has deep ties to the coal industry, says he doesn't oppose the EPA but questions a drive to address a climate crisis he doesn't see. Editorial: Two power plants' future becomes uncertain U.S. Coal Use Has Declined By Half, When Measured By Power Produced The big game changer, however, could be a tax on carbon. The state relies on coal to fuel them almost more than any other state. "Utilities will have to find a way to manage that risk," Miller said. West Virginia Coal Plants Need Upgrades. Three States Will Decide Their Eighteen states led by West Virginia and a coalition of U.S. energy companies want strict limits on EPA authority to issue rules that could transform entire industries. /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/slated-retirements-to-cut-us-coal-fleet-to-less-than-half-2015-capacity-by-2035-65741012 "Every time it rains and storms, I'm lying awake at night. Appalachian Power is a subsidiary of American Electric Power, which is based in Columbus, Ohio. AEP says the energy generated at the John Amos Plant is enough to. The John Amos power plant in Putnam County, West Virginia. But in October 2020, the Trump administration, On July 26, meanwhile, the Biden administration, AEPs decision to retrofit Amos and Mountaineer for ELG compliance builds on the 2020 rule, which establishes. Holladay says the utilities may choose to keep them open and lose money. The John Amos Plant has a nameplate rating of 2,933 MW, making it the largest generating plant in the AEP system. Browse TV Schedule | Find WVPB Television, View Radio Schedule | Find Your Stations. AEP and other power plant operators are retiring coal-fired plants in the region. Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power, both subsidiaries of Ohio-based American Electric Power, have testified that upgrading the plants represents the best value for ratepayers. This power plant, where we are standing here today, isliving proof that energy belongs to all of us, regardless of party labels. With a nameplate rating of 2,933 MW,[1]it is the largest generating plant in the AEP system. "It's weather all over, you know what I mean. 2 Logan to 8-7 win over No. High 52F. We told the Virginia SCC that making the environmental investments for both CCR and ELG compliance at Amos and Mountaineer plants is more beneficial for customers than making only the CCR compliance investments, retiring the plants in 2028, and finding replacement capacity, she said. WV Educational Broadcasting Authority, the WVPB Foundation, and the Friends of WVPB. The Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) approved Appalachian Power Co. (APCo) and Wheeling Power Co.s (WPCos), Just two weeks after FirstEnergy Corp. said it would close more than 2 GW of six older coal-fired, American Electric Power, one of the premier generating utilities in the U.S., is caught between a deregulated rockwholesale, Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC)on Aug. 23 rattled, American Electric Powers (AEPs) plans to operate the 2.9-GW John Amos and 1.3-GW Mountaineer coal power plants through 2040 when it partly denied cost recovery for expenses that the West Virginia plants need to comply with the federal. AEP has committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions and obtaining more of its power from renewable resources while also divesting itself of much of its coal-powered generating fleet. They're not very efficient at turning coal into power, Holladay said, and new, more efficient technologies coming down the grid and kind of eating their lunch.. Utilities are rapidly closing coal-fired power plants, and while 2020 and 2021 offer a relative reprieve from retirements compared to 2018 and 2019, utilities already have over 10 GW of announced retirement plans lined up in each of 2022 and 2023. If the commission denies the request to upgrade the three plants, they would close in 2028. The 300-mile pipeline would transport 2 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas from northern West Virginia to the mid-Atlantic. The $317 million project would change the way the coal plants dispose of coal combustion residuals and wastewater from scrubbers that remove sulfur dioxide from plant emissions. Closing the Amos plant alone in 2028 could save $1.4 billion, the Sierra Club's analysis found. As noted here before, the coal-fired fleet in this region is expected to reach its scheduled retirement age sometime around 2040. And while that order would have meant Mitchell will need to cease operations in 2028, the, The Kentucky PSCs new order, notably, directs Kentucky Power to explain. Coal-fired power plants, including two in Pa., to close after new West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is leading a group of 18 states suing the Biden administration over the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Recent months have seen a fresh round of new and accelerated retirement announcements driven by utilities adopting new climate policies and goals, said Seth Feaster, a data analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. Under the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the first updates to federal effluent limitation guidelines since 1982 in November 2015, setting stringent Best Available Technology (BAT) effluent limitations and pretreatment standards for existing sources (PSES) as they apply to bottom ash transport water and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater. According to Appalachian Powers testimony, the Virginia jurisdictional share of the ELG investments would be about $60 million. They generated the electricity for homes around the Ohio Valley. Closures already announced by power generators will drop that figure to 136.5 GW by 2035, or about 47.8% of the size of the fleet at the beginning of 2015. Don't knowingly lie about anyone We told the Virginia SCC that making the environmental investments for both CCR and ELG compliance at Amos and Mountaineer plants is more beneficial for customers than making only the CCR compliance investments, retiring the plants in 2028, and finding replacement capacity, she said. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. The Public Service Commission of West Virginia would have a say, and undoubtedly the governor and the Legislature would step in. Both were smaller, older plants that didnt produce enough power to justify the investment needed to meet modern environmental standards. Over the same period, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates more frequent and more powerful storms in the region have dumped 55% more rain.