{"id":4499,"date":"2018-05-22T11:39:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T17:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/?p=4499"},"modified":"2018-05-22T12:19:08","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T18:19:08","slug":"the-decline-of-u-s-coal-power-looks-a-lot-like-henderson-kentucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/?p=4499","title":{"rendered":"The Decline Of U.S. Coal Power Looks A Lot Like Henderson, Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 22, 2018 – by Ryan Van Velzer, WFPL-Lousiville.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Henderson Plant 2 is part of this complex on the Green River near Sebree, KY. In the background you can see the Alcoa and \u00a0Vectren’s Culley power plants. \u00a0File Photo \u00a9 2011 BlairPhotoEVV<\/p><\/div>\n

Henderson, Kentucky\u2019s coal-fired power plant provided among the lowest electricity rates in the country for its residents just two years ago, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the country\u2019s energy grid is undergoing a transformation and market forces are pushing older coal-fired power plants like Henderson\u2019s into retirement, while alternatives like wind, solar and natural gas are taking its place.<\/span><\/p>\n

For most of the last 50 years, Henderson \u2014 a small city on the Ohio River \u2014 has run on coal power. The coal is locally sourced: all of it comes from Western Kentucky coal fields from within a 30 miles radius, said Henderson Mayor Steve Austin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up within a few blocks of the power plant. Plus, we had a coal burning furnace in the apartment house that we lived in and when you\u2019d go out to your car it would have coal dust all over it,\u201d Austin said. \u201cIt would blow off once you drove, but the coal dust was every place in the downtown area.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The coal is burning a lot cleaner these days, but it\u2019s not burning as often.\u00a0In the last six months, Henderson began purchasing most its electricity on the open market, only turning on the plant generators when necessary, said Austin.<\/span><\/p>\n

The city is kind of unique in that it owns its own power plant, Station Two, which went online in the early 1970s. Historically, it\u2019s provided some of the cheapest electricity in the state.\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The city pays the power company Big Rivers to operate Station Two. But earlier this month, Big Rivers cut its contract with the city, saying it was no longer profitable for it to keep running the plant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Henderson historically has taken its cut of the power for the city and left Big Rivers to sell the rest on the open market. But right now, it costs about 33 times more to produce energy from Station Two than it does to buy it on the open market.<\/span><\/p>\n

Big Rivers spokeswoman Jennifer Keach said the power company was running at a loss for several years, so it did a study that found \u201cStation Two units are no longer capable of normal, continuous reliable operation for the economically competitive production of electricity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Henderson has to decide whether it wants to continue running the plant without Big Rivers, or just close it down all together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coal Power In Decline\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

All across the country, older coal-fired power plants are retiring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Glenn McGrath with the U.S. Energy Information Administration says market forces and technology are reshaping the country\u2019s energy grid. No plant closes for the same reasons, but similar forces are pushing coal out of the energy market all across the country, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, older coal power plants, like Henderson\u2019s, use outdated technology. The old plants just aren\u2019t as efficient at converting heat into energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the costs to keep up with changing environmental regulations, and the costs to compete with alternatives from wind, solar and the glut of natural gas in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been a lot of new natural gas plants built so they are new, they are efficient, they are operating on a cheap fuel so it makes it a really tough and competitive environment for coal and Henderson is facing that,\u201d McGrath said.<\/span><\/p>\n

McGrath pointed to the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic as particularly hard hit, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s in part because of the natural gas boom in the region. Producers are tapping into huge reserves in the Marcellus Shale, which stretches throughout Northern Appalachia into New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also less demand for new energy capacity than in the past, McGrath said.<\/p>\n

Most of the new need for electricity over the last two decades has been in residential, he said. But much of that growth has flatlined because of advances in energy-efficiency, including refrigerators, washing machines and LED lights.<\/p>\n

Henderson Plans For The Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The decision of what comes next for the city of Henderson falls largely on one person: Chris Heimgartner, the utility manager for Henderson Municipal Power and Light.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019re seeing right now is a shakeout of the less efficient plants and they\u2019re going offline, and Station Two may be one of those,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Henderson to keep operating the plant past 2023, it\u2019s going to cost between $50 and<\/span><\/p>\n

$70 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

Compare it to driving a vintage car, he said. Everyone once in a while you see a Ford Model T driving on the road. Now think of how that costs to maintain versus a modern Ford sedan, Heimgartner said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at something like that here,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to spend a lot of money on these plants to keep them in business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And even after all those renovations, Heimgartner still sees coal as a gamble.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve got a coal plant that you are building today that is fully compliant with today\u2019s regulations, you could have a requirement for carbon capture and sequestration that would make that whole thing uneconomic,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But\u00a0Heimgartner is also concerned about depending too much on natural gas for Henderson\u2019s energy future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Natural gas prices have a history of volatility and although it\u2019s unlikely prices will rise to where they were before the Great Recession, Heimgartner said it\u2019s wise to diversify the city\u2019s energy mix.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heimgartner has considered about a dozen different market scenarios and thinks the best way forward for Henderson will likely involve a combination of buying\u00a0energy on the open market, building a natural gas plant and perhaps, adding renewables like solar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kentucky\u2019s Public Service Commission is currently reviewing Big Rivers\u2019 decision to terminate its contract. If they agree, the city has until next summer to come up with a plan.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 22, 2018 – by Ryan Van Velzer, WFPL-Lousiville. Henderson, Kentucky\u2019s coal-fired power plant provided among the lowest electricity rates in the country for its residents just two years ago, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4499"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4507,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4499\/revisions\/4507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}