Pacific Power Will Close Uneconomic Cholla Coal Plant This Year
Posted on January 9, 2020 by Bob Jenks
Tags, Energy
CUB applauds Pacific Power’s (aka PacifiCorp) decision to close the Cholla 4 coal plant in Arizona by the end of 2020. Pacific Power announced this decision on January 7. Cholla 4 is one of three coal units comprising the Cholla complex - a 395 MW coal plant that is owned by Pacific Power and operated by Arizona Public Service.
Pacific Power’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) found that it was economic to close Cholla 4 in 2020, yet the action plan associated with the IRP allowed Pacific Power to keep running the plant until 2023. Pacific Power’s 2017 IRP also found that the plant should be closed in 2020. At a public meeting of the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) in December, CUB raised concerns about Pacific Power continuing to operate the plant beyond 2020. CUB was concerned that Pacific Power was not making closing Cholla a priority, even though this was an economic opportunity that would save customers money.
Pacific Power serves customers in six states (in some states it operates under the name Rocky Mountain Power) with a generation fleet that has historically been mostly coal. Coal plants have come under increasing pressure as electricity generated by wind, solar, and natural gas have become cheaper and are replacing coal plants. However, before 2019, PacifiCorp had only closed two small coal units, and those were on sites that were too small to install the pollution control equipment required to remove toxic emissions. Last year, it closed the Naughton 3 power plant in Wyoming.
During the 2017 IRP, CUB and other parties urged the Oregon Public Utility Commission to require Pacific Power to conduct a study of the economics of each of its coal plants as part of its 2019 IRP. That study was a major factor in the 2019 IRP’s recommendation to accelerate retirement of six of its coal plants, which were scheduled in the previous IRP to retire at a later date. In addition, it selects retirement of 16 coal units by 2030 and retirement of 20 of its 24 coal units by the end of the planning period in 2038.
These are important steps. Coal is no longer the economic resource it once was. And, as Oregon and the rest of the country begin establishing carbon reduction policies, the economics of coal will only get worse. For customers, coal generation is an economic risk because carbon regulation could add millions of dollars to the cost of electricity from coal plants. Reducing this risk for Pacific Power’s Oregon customers has been an important priority for CUB, and we are encouraged by this announcement.
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01/09/20 | 0 Comments | Pacific Power Will Close Uneconomic Cholla Coal Plant This Year