IRVING, Texas, Aug. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistra Energy
(NYSE: VST) and its subsidiaries today announced the four power
plants that will retire in order to meet the requirements of the
recently approved revisions to the Multi-Pollutant Standard rule
imposed by the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB). Without
this rule change, the company's entire downstate fleet was at risk
of near imminent retirement. The company will close the following
four coal-fueled power plants in Illinois: Coffeen Power Plant, Duck Creek
Power Plant (in Canton), Havana
Power Plant, and Hennepin Power
Plant.
These plant retirements are required by the revised MPS rule,
which regulates emissions at eight power plants operated by Vistra
subsidiaries. The revised rule, which also calls for a reduction in
annual mass caps for SO2 and NOx, requires that the
company permanently shut down 2,000 MW of capacity from the eight
MPS group of plants by the end of the year, pending approval by
grid operators, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and
PJM Interconnection, and approval of the termination of certain
tariffs by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In addition,
the revised rule requires adjustments of these annual caps as
additional power plant units are shut down or transferred. As a
result, the retirement of the four plants will further reduce
annual allowable SO2 and NOx emissions in the MPS group
of plants, driving total allowable emissions down by 57 and 61
percent, respectively, from that allowed under the former MPS rule.
While not explicitly required by the MPS, CO2 emissions
will also be significantly reduced by approximately 40 percent
relative to 2018 levels.
"Even though today's retirement announcements were inevitable
due to the changing regulatory environment and unfavorable economic
conditions in the MISO market, they are nonetheless difficult to
make," said Curt Morgan, Vistra's
president and chief executive officer. "By far, the hardest
decisions we make in our business are those that significantly
impact our people. As always, we will do right by those who are
impacted by this announcement. Our employees take pride in the work
they do, and we appreciate their decades of service providing
reliable and affordable power to Illinois, particularly in years like this one
with periods of extreme cold and heat."
The decision to retire these four plants resulted from a
plant-by-plant analysis that evaluated several factors in making
retirement decisions, including ensuring compliance with the new
emissions caps set forth in the revised MPS rule, plant economics,
federal energy regulations, and MISO market rules. In addition,
consideration was given to prioritize retirement of higher emitting
plants as suggested by the IEPA and IPCB along with the other
factors listed above which resulted in a balanced mix of higher and
lower emitting plant retirements.
As part of the closure process, the company is filing the
required notices with MISO, PJM, and the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission. If it is determined that the units are not needed for
reliability, Vistra expects to cease operations at all four sites
by the end of the year. The company will take the necessary steps
to responsibly decommission the facilities in accordance with all
federal and state regulations.
Approximately 300 jobs will be eliminated across the four plant
sites. Vistra is providing outplacement services and working with
state workforce agencies to assist the employees impacted by the
closures.
Future of Plant Sites and Vistra's Illinois Business
Plant closures can have detrimental impacts to the communities
in which they are located, but Vistra aims to mitigate this impact
by growing its Illinois business
with newer technologies. To that end, the company continues to
strongly support legislation that would provide a pathway to
reinvest and repurpose its existing coal-fueled power plant sites
into solar and battery energy storage facilities. Vistra has a
demonstrated history of developing these new technologies in
Texas and California and, through the Coal to Solar and
Energy Storage Act of 2019, could do the same in Illinois. This legislation would allow the
company to reuse substantial transmission infrastructure and its
existing footprint of available land at its coal-fueled power
plants to develop renewable energy facilities, mitigating
employment and property tax impacts to plant communities and
helping Illinois meet its clean
energy goals.
Vistra is hopeful that the Illinois General Assembly will take
up the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act during its fall Veto
Session.
More on the MPS-Impacted Power Plants
Coffeen Power Plant
Coffeen, IL
Approx. 95 Employees
915 MW
Age: ~54 years (1965)
Duck Creek Power Plant
Canton, IL
Approx. 60 Employees
425 MW
Age: ~43 years (1976)
Havana Power Plant
Havana, IL
Approx. 75 Employees
434 MW
Age: ~41 years (1978)
Hennepin Power Plant
Hennepin, IL
Approx. 60 Employees
294 MW
Age: ~66 years (1953)
Media
Meranda Cohn
Media.Relations@vistraenergy.com
214-875-8004
Analysts
Molly Sorg
214-812-0046
Investor@vistraenergy.com
About Vistra Energy
Vistra Energy (NYSE: VST) is a premier, integrated energy
company based in Irving, Texas,
combining an innovative, customer-centric approach to retail with a
focus on safe, reliable, and efficient power generation. Through
its retail and generation businesses, Vistra operates in 20 states
and the District of Columbia, and
six of the seven competitive markets in the U.S., with about 5,400
employees. Vistra is one of the largest competitive residential
electricity providers in the country, and its retail brands serve
approximately 3.7 million residential, commercial, and industrial
customers with electricity and gas. The company's generation fleet
totals approximately 41,000 megawatts of highly efficient
generation capacity, with a diverse portfolio of natural gas,
nuclear, coal, solar, and battery storage facilities. The company
is currently developing the largest battery energy storage system
of its kind in the world – a 300-MW/1,200-MWh system in
Moss Landing, California.
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SOURCE Vistra Energy