DP&L confirms coal plant closures
Facilities called not ‘economically viable’ beyond 2018.
Dayton Power and Light Co. will shut down two coal power plants in a rural southern Ohio county along the Ohio River in 2018, potentially leaving 700 people without jobs. The company made it official on Monday when it announced the two power-generation plants in Adams County will shut down by June 2018. The plants — known
as J.M. Stuart and Killen stations — are not “economically viable beyond mid-2018,” according to DP&L.
“Along with our co-owners of the plants, we have completed a thorough review of our options and it has become clear that, without significant changes in market conditions, the plants will not be economically viable beyond mid-2018,” DP&L said in a statement.
The Dayton Daily News first reported last year that the company announced its intention to close the plants. Community members in Adams County have triedto get the company to leave the plants, which have operated since the 1970s, open.
“There’s a huge financial impact
headed our way, and frankly, it doesn’t feel like our concerns are being heard, in
either Dayton or Columbus,” Michael Pell, president of First State Bank in Winchester, Ohio, told this news organization.
The plants generate about $9 million annually in prop- erty taxes to the county and local entities, and DP&L owns 5,500 acres in Adams County. The plants have about 490 employees, with an additional 200 contract- ing employees. The annual payroll is more than $30 million.
Coal-powered plants are facing an uncertain future across the nation, with the threat of cheaper natural gas facilities, stricter carbon restrictions and new environmental regulations.
The Obama administration put forward its plan last year for reducing national dependency on coal, called the Clean Power Plan, but the plan is being contested in courts, and the new Trump administration is seen as more open to coal usage.
DP&L has 12 power-gener- ating plants sourced by different energy. Of the 12, five have at least some coal-fired units. Now, DP&L will have just three. Many of the plants are only partially owned by DP&L and some are not oper- ated by DP&L at all.
Both Killen and Stuart are coal-fired stations, and were both operated by DP&L, and at least partially owned by the company. The Killen sta
tion is co-owned, with DP&L having a 67 percent stake in
the facility. The company has a 35 percent stake in the Stu- art facility.
“DP&L recognizes the extent of the impact and uncertainty this decision creates for our people. The company is fully commit- ted to proactively managing workforce transitions related to the closure of these generation units,” a company statement said. According to the Sierra
Club, these plants are the 250th and 251st coal plants to be retired nationwide since the Beyond Coal Cam- paign began. The club said it “stands ready” to partner
with the local community to help with the economic impact of the closures. “These coal plants are
unable to compete against the cleaner, cheaper options demanded by customers to meet their energy needs,”
said Dan Sawmiller, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Ohio. “Today’s announcement underscores the profound national trend away from coal, and it remains critical that the needs of the workers and the communities affected by these decisions are appropriately addressed.”
Adams County residents have held community meet- ings in the past month, hoping to entice state officials or the Trump administra- tion to help in keeping the plants open.
Following a Aberdeen Council meeting last week, a resolution was sent to representatives in favor of keep- ing the coal plants open.
Earlier this month, DP&L told this news organization that it intends to sell its stake in three Ohio coalfired power plants. A rider in a proposed settlement filed last week with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is designed to ensure that DP&L gets $105 million in revenue a year over three years.
The settlement also outlines incentives and payments to parties involved in creating DP&L’s electric security plan, a comprehensive
plan for the utility to collect revenue and do business.
A PUCO spokesman told this news outlet that the filings for the ESP case do not address the two plant clo- sures.