Bruce Mansfield power plant to close in November, FirstEnergy Solutions says
The owner of the Bruce Mansfield coal- fired power plant in Beaver County, the largest in the state, said the facility will shutter in November, nearly two years ahead of an already truncated schedule.
Bankrupt FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. blamed a “lack of economic viability in current market conditions” for the decision to close the remaining unit still operating at the plant. Two other units have been offline for a year and a half, following a January 2018 fire that damaged pollution control and other equipment.
Last month, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 272, which represents 230 workers at Bruce Mansfield, scored a victory against the company in federal court that could yield about $ 5.5 million in back wages. The union alleged that after contract negotiations resulted in an impasse, FirstEnergy Solutions unilaterally imposed working conditions.
A spokesman for the company said last month that FirstEnergy Solutions would review the decision and that any payments would ultimately get hashed out in bankruptcy court.
The company’s reorganization plan is slated to be heard by a bankruptcy judge this month, four months after the same judge called FirstEnergy’s earlier disclosures about the plan “patently unconfirmable.”
The plan contained broad releases of liability for FirstEnergy Corp., the parent company of FirstEnergy Solutions, which is not a debtor in the bankruptcy.
The latest reorganization plan, filed July 23, elicited similar objections from many of the same groups that opposed previous disclosures, including the United States government. Among the concerns is the suspicion that FirstEnergy Solutions won’t be able to fully fund all of the decommissioning activities at its various sites and that the arrangement it is seeking would make it impossible for government agencies to seek future damages.
Unions representing employees at FirstEnergy Solution’s nuclear power stations, including Beaver Valley in Shippingport, also objected based on the company’s unwillingness to assume existing labor contracts and its stated plan to renegotiate them after it emerges from bankruptcy.
Beaver Valley is scheduled to shut down in 2021, decades before its operating license expires, because
First Energy Solutions has said it’s not making enough money, although some thirdparty studies, including from the independent market monitor for the regional grid operator, conclude that Beaver Valley is still profitable and likely would be through 2021.
To shore up revenue, First Energy has sought state subsidies for nuclear power for its reliability and lack of carbon emissions. Late last month, it secured a win in Ohio where the Legislature approved a consumer- funded bailout for First Energy Solutions’ two nuclear plants, amounting to about $ 150 million a year.
The Ohio plants were also scheduled to close in 2021, but the day after the bill was signed First Energy Solutions rescinded its deactivation requests. Its unions were vocal advocates for state support.
Beaver Valley is unaffected by the Ohio legislation, and while First Energy Solutions has made a similar pitch to Pennsylvania lawmakers — with some support — the state remains without nuclear subsidies.
As a result, the company “is not considering a change in status for Beaver Valley,” Angela Pruitt, a spokeswoman for First Energy Solutions, said this week.
“Deactivation activities” at Bruce Mansfield should be done by May 2020, First Energy Solutions said in a news release Friday.
“In all cases, the company will comply with its collective bargaining agreement, including severance as applicable, and have already initiated discussions with union leadership.”