Wet Coal Plagues Power Plants as Inclement Weather Sweeps Through Midwest

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--After torrential rains and tornadoes swept through the Midwest, transmission lines were downed, and power outages followed. One of the three units at the J.H. Campbell power station, owned by CMS Energy Corporation's (NYSE:CMS) (Jackson, Michigan) principal subsidiary Consumer Energy in West Olive, Michigan, remains offline.

The 350-megawatt (MW) Unit 2 was forced offline Sunday because of dampened coal. The large amounts of rain created moisture that left deposits of slurry substance in the coal bunker. The coal was unable to flow properly or burn effectively. Wet coal is a nuisance to coal plants that can cause many problems. It can turn into sludge and has even been known to break conveyor belts.

The unit is not expected to return to service until after the weekend when the inclement weather passes.

Dairyland Power Cooperative's Genoa Power Station in Genoa, Wisconsin, was also showered with buckets of rain this week. Although the unit wasn't forced offline, the plant powered down slightly for troubles with wet coal not burning. Another station in the Midwest that was affected by wet coal was Hoosier Energy's Merom Generating Station in Sullivan, Indiana. This 540 MW coal unit was forced offline Sunday alongside Campbell but returned to service Tuesday with little effect to the region.

Maintenance personnel at power plants are trying to equip their facilities for the long, hot summer and hurricane season by performing random maintenance checks and ensuring proper training for personnel for quick turnarounds.

Consumers Energy provides natural gas and electricity to more than 6 million of the state's nearly 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties of Michigan.

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