FirstEnergy to Close Pa. Coal-fired Plant and Five Others

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

January 27, 2012 | 10:00 AM

FirstEnergy says new federal environmental rules would make the Armstrong Power Station, in Adrian, Pa., too costly to run. The new rules, recently finalized by the EPA, give existing power plants four years to comply. But FirstEnergy plans to shut the the six plants by September 1.
The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) set new limits on the release of toxins such as mercury, arsenic and nitrogen oxide. Power plants are now the worst offenders when it comes to these emissions. The EPA says 40 percent of coal-fired plants nationwide do not have updated technology used to lower emissions.
The move was cheered by environmental groups like the Sierra Club.

“Above all, this is a win for public health and for families who have been breathing polluted air from these outdated plants,” said Bruce Nilles, Senior Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “Today’s news is part of a national trend of clean energy replacing coal. The writing is on the wall for the coal industry. With the cost of coal rising and clean energy prices plummeting, coal’s market share is shrinking fast.”

A recent report from the Energy Information Agency says the nation’s reliance on coal will continue to decline.
The other planned closures include four plants in Ohio and and a plant in Maryland. FirstEnergy says 529 employees will lose their jobs. The combined capacity of the six plants is 2,689 megawatts of power.