Vote on Coal-Fired Martin Drake Power Plant Closure is Part of Growing Trend

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SUGAR LAND--January 11, 2016--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) governing board voted by a two-thirds majority in November to close operational coal-fired units at the Martin Drake Power Plant by 2035. In December, however, the board voted again on the future of one of the units: the vote was tied 4-4, and another vote is expected at the upcoming board meeting on January 20.

The coal-fired units (5, 6 and 7) have been in service since 1962, 1968 and 1974, respectively; they have a combined operating capacity of more than 250 megawatts (MW). Four older units (1-4), which were shut down in the mid to late 1990s, were all natural gas-fired, with in-service dates ranging from 1925 to 1949. The decommissioned units were not only significantly older, they also generated much less electricity, with a combined peak capacity of 25 megawatts (MW).

The reasons behind the CSU board's decision bring together factors that many other utilities are facing as they try to maintain a power generation fleet while reducing emissions. One of the key drivers for reducing emissions is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan, but the decision to shut down Martin Drake's coal-fired units brings many other issues into focus.

These Martin Drake units are relatively old--each has been in operation for an average of 47 years. During those years, emissions standards and regulatory restrictions have changed significantly. Across much of the country, many similar vintage coal-fired units are facing the prospect of either installing additional emissions control equipment or decommissioning.

In order to meet regulatory changes over the years, CSU, along with other utilities, has already installed multiple pollution control mechanisms, including flue gas desulfurization (FGD) and low NOx burners, to cut down sulfur and nitrous emissions. The key change the Clean Power Plan is putting into play is the demand to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. With that new demand in mind, CSU considered several options for Martin Drake. These included reconfiguring unit 5 to run on natural gas rather than coal and installing additional emissions controls on units 6 and 7, or gradually decommissioning the entire plant. The latter option was chosen in a 6-3 vote in November, but the board's vote in December leaves the fate of Unit 5 still hanging.

The full range of options can be found on the CSU website: https://www.csu.org/CSUDocuments/eirpfinalportfolios.pdf.

Other utilities face many of the same choices as CSU, and it is likely that many more ageing coal-fired units will be shut down in the near future in order to meet more stringent emissions controls and reduce operational costs. This will be true whether the Clean Power Plan is finally accepted or rejected and has just as much to do with the age and maintenance costs of these older units. In fact, CSU concluded that the costs to implement any of the options would not change significantly because of the Clean Power Plan. An important strategy in emission reduction is Demand-Side Management (DSM). CSU planned to use DSM in every option under consideration. In fact, DSM was one of the few components common to CSU's proposed plans. Industrial Info will continue to follow market and power generation trends and will discuss DSM in an upcoming article.

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