Good Energy News: Three Kentucky coal plants to retire due to EPA rules
It would be even better to replace these coal plants with Solar, Wind, Hydro, or Nuclear, but I will take what I can get.
Kentucky power companies Louisville Gas and Electric (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) said new, stricter, federal environmental regulations will force them to retire three older, coal-fired power plants.
To replace the lost coal-fired power, the companies are seeking permission from Kentucky utility regulators to build a 640-megawatt, natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant at the existing Cane Run coal plant in Louisville.
The companies are also seeking state approval to buy three small natural gas-fired turbines from Bluegrass Generation in LaGrange, Kentucky, that will provide up to 495 MW during periods of peak or high demand.
One megawatt powers about 1,000 homes.
The companies, units of Pennsylvania-based power firm PPL, had suggested in earlier filings that they could retire the 563-MW Cane Run, 71-MW Tyrone and 163-MW Green River coal plants, which entered service between 1953 and 1969.
“Given the enormous cost and strict compliance timetable required to retrofit some of our aging generation units with additional technology, we’ve had to explore a lower-cost option that results in retiring older coal units and replacing them with natural gas units,” Paul Thompson, a senior vice president at LG&E and KU, said in a Thursday release.