American Electric Power, the integrated utility company based in Ohio, announced plans to close a 580-megawatt coal plant in Texas and stop using coal in another power plant, citing compliance with federal environmental rules.
The 580-megawatt Pirkey Plant in the East Texas community of Hallsville about 10 miles east of Longville will close in 2023, according to American Electric Power.
American Electric Power will also cease using coal at the 1,053-megawatt Welsh Plant in Pittsburg, Texas, about 40 miles north of Longview in 2028.
The Welsh Plant is a coal-burning plant but the company will look at other fuel-burning options, said Peter Main, spokesman for Southwestern Electric Power Co., a subsidy of American Electric power.
RELATED: Another Texas power plant is mothballed, raising concerns over reserves and prices
Both plants are outside the jurisdiction of the Texas grid manager the Electric Reliability Council of Texas so the decrease in generating capacity won’t be reflected in ERCOT’s reserve capacity calculations.
Coal plants have been closing in Texas as generators move away from expensive coal generation and towards cheaper renewable energy such as wind and solar.
Last year Gibbons Creek Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant about 20 miles from Bryan near College Station suspended operations after coal-fired generation became too costly. The move follows the shutdown in 2018 of three coal plants with a combined generation capacity of more than 4,000 megawatts — enough to power at least 800,000 Texas homes — by Vistra of Irving.
American Electric Power plans to continue operating other coal plants its owns by making modifications to comply with a new federal environmental rule requiring new ash handling systems. The company has retired or sold nearly 13,500 megawatts of coal-fueled generation during the last decade.
"We continue to add lower cost, cleaner resources, like renewables and natural gas, as we diversify our generating fleet to benefit our customers and the environment," Nicholas K. Akins, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
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Another coal plant to close in East Texas - Houston Chronicle
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