Trump efforts won’t stop coal plant closings

The Trump administration is no fan of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which, in part, addresses emissions from power plants.

The president’s efforts this week to begin killing the program, however, are not expected to breathe life into Ohio coal-fired power plants that are scheduled to be closed.

Without exception, energy companies that have made such decisions say their plans are not likely to shift. The reasons are tied to market forces, as coal has become more expensive than other fuels.

“Our long-term strategy for our (power) generation fleet will not change with changes in the Clean Power Plan,” said Melissa McHenry, spokeswoman for Columbus-based American Electric Power.

But that doesn’t mean AEP and other energy generators support the Clean Power Plan. The regulations have many critics in the energy business, who had asked for major revisions.

Energy analysts note, however, that changes in the electricity market have made the plan much less relevant than it was just a few years ago.

“The Clean Power Plan is a good idea whose usefulness has been bypassed by technological innovation in wind, solar and natural-gas production,” said Jim Lazar, a consultant to utility regulators who is based in Washington State.

“If you’re thinking about something new, you’re going to build wind or solar or gas. You’re not going to build coal,” he said.

The innovation has meant a reduction in costs to build new wind farms and solar arrays, and the ability to extract large amounts of natural gas through hydraulic fracturing.

“I definitely don’t see any new coal generation,” said Andrew Bischof, an equity analyst who covers utilities for Morningstar.

This dynamic is in action in Ohio’s current coal-fired power plants.

There are 10, excluding some small ones operated by local governments or non-energy companies.

Two of the plants — J.M. Stuart and Killen Station — are scheduled to close next year. Both are owned by a power-plant subsidiary that is affiliated with Dayton Power & Light, a utility.

The state’s largest coalfired plant changed hands last year. An AEP subsidiary sold the General James M. Gavin plant to a partnership of private-equity firms, Lightstone Generation.

Gavin, located near Cheshire in southwestern Ohio, has capacity of 2,600 megawatts, and is running nearly constantly, having generated more than 10 million megawatt-hours from January to July, according to the Energy Information Administration.

At a coal plant, a megawatt can provide for the needs of about 1,000 houses. But the federal data show that many of Ohio’s coal plants are operating at much less than full capacity.

The state’s second-largest coal-fired plant is Cardinal, operated by an AEP subsidiary and located near Brilliant in eastern Ohio.