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The James River Power Station will stop using coal by the end of the day on Oct. 15.Photo courtesy CU
The James River Power Station will stop using coal by the end of the day on Oct. 15.

Photo courtesy CU

CU limits coal use in compliance with new EPA regs

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It’s out with the coal and in with clean-burning natural gas for City Utilities of Springfield’s James River Power Station.

The lakeside plant will discontinue its coal use by the end of the day on Oct. 15 in compliance with new Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

The new Coal Combustion Residuals Regulations are part of the landmark Clean Power Plan supported by President Barack Obama, which aims to cut emissions by 32 percent to pre-2005 levels.

CU spokesman Joel Alexander said the power station’s five generators – which range in age from 45 to 58 years old – aren’t up to snuff with the new regulations and will switch to natural gas.

“That plant has always had the ability to generate power with coal or natural gas,” Alexander said. “It’s 70-plus years old, but it’s still an important piece of power generation for Springfield.”

For the time being, no rate increases are expected and power levels will remain steady. Alexander said the current historic low price of natural gas makes it a viable alternative to coal. However, the commodity is highly volatile and prices could fluctuate.

On the southwest side of town, the John Twitty Energy Center will continue use of its two coal-burning generators. Alexander said one unit is roughly 99 percent in compliance already and the other will need minor adjustments.

Going forward, Alexander said CU would examine the financial impact of upgrades to James River’s five units, but costs are not yet known.

The Queen City isn’t the only municipality affected by the Aug. 3 ruling. Electric cooperatives and the Show-Me State’s government agencies also are working through the EPA’s final rule to determine how high costs will be.

According to the August Springfield Business Journal story, “Electric co-ops brace for costs in new EPA rules,” each state has its own federally required goal, and Missouri’s is to decrease carbon pollution by 37 percent from 2012 levels by 2030. In a state where 80 percent of electric energy is produced from cost-conscience coal, significant changes to methods of generation and the cost of power are on the horizon.

However, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced plans to join more than 20 other states in suing the EPA for exceeding its authority in issuing new regulations.

In a speech at the Missouri Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting in Branson this morning, Koster said he supports Missouri’s ongoing efforts to produce energy more cleanly and efficiently, but that the EPA’s plan sets a compliance schedule that is economically risky and robs Missouri of its competitive advantage in low consumer and industrial electrical rates, according to a news release.

Koster estimates the new regulation deadlines would cost the state more than $6 billion, saying Missouri is better off maintaining it’s competitive coal advantage.

“Renewable energy is a vital piece of our state’s energy portfolio,” he said in the release. “It is essential, however, that we achieve this goal in an economically responsible way that makes sense for Missouri.”

Missouri utilities have added more than 2,200 megawatts of generating capacity from wind power and other renewable resources over the past decade, according to the release. Supplying 111,000 customers, CU’s energy mix already includes wind, solar, landfill methane and hydroelectric generation.

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