Will Pennsylvania power plant closures cause real harm to illusory environmental benefits – Is it up for that?
By Gordon’s Tomb – February 8, 2022
Visible from the Allegheny Mountains of Western Pennsylvania are coal-fired power plants – and their steam streams – that have been integral to much of the region’s economy for 50 years. But maybe not for long.
Three factories east of Pittsburgh directly to rent 550 people and supports an estimated 8,100 jobs, according to the Power PA Jobs Alliance, an alliance of labor and industry groups. Now, two of those — Conemaugh’s generating stations on the Indiana-Westmoreland County border and Keystone in East Armstrong County — are scheduled to close in 2028.
Owners blame costs imposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency wastewater rules. The regulation is expected to cause at least 26 plants in 14 states to stop using coal, according to news report. Another factor was Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s decision to unilaterally join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
“These factories have invested billions of dollars in environmental projects,” said Ken Umholtz, a Conemaugh employee. “We’ll soon be done with one thing, and it’s something else.”
Although the Conemaugh plant recycles most of its water, Umholtz said, “Environmentalists … have a plan to regulate us out of business, but they won’t have electricity because there’s nothing to replace us.”
Conemaugh and Keystone both generate 1,800 megawatts of electricity. A third coal-fired power station in Homer City produces 2,000 MW and, for now, plans to continue operating. All three together can power more than 5 million homes.
“The only available energy source to generate this much electricity is coal,” said Allen Goldberg, chief executive officer of General Trade Corp., a contractor that manages materials shipped to the plant.
“There are fundamental laws of physics that apply to everything in life,” says Goldberg. “One of them is that you can’t turn off something like this without replacing it.” He added that the region lacks the pipeline infrastructure to supply natural gas as an alternative fuel to the plant.
Allan Manning unloads the wagons that carry most of the coal plant. At 35, he hopes to end his working life at Conemaugh, but wonders if that will be possible.
“Three generations of my family grew up with the help of these plants,” says Manning, whose grandfather, father, and uncle operated, maintained, or built power plants. said. “My wife and I raised two daughters – aged 8 and 6 – with her being able to stay home with them. We couldn’t have done it without the salary I earned at the factory. There are thousands of people who depend on these trees for their livelihood. “
According to Manning, factory closures could reduce the local tax base, and the local school board director “thinks they’re going to have to fire teachers.”
Most of the plant’s employees are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 459 — a union based in nearby Johnstown. Aric Baker, senior business representative for Local 459, wants his parent union to be more vocal about regulations that threaten the factory. However, he said, the IBEW hierarchy has to “jump around” the politics of having members work at competing nuclear plants.
“It’s frustrating because so many Local 459 memberships are tied to fossil fuels,” said Baker, who is also an emissions technician at Keystone. Of the 2,000 local members, nearly 40% work at coal plants or power lines.
The cost of EPA regulation wouldn’t be of great concern to factories, Baker said, had it not been for the threat from Wolf’s insistence on joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative this year. That initiative resulted in a carbon tax that would increase the electricity costs of the plants and make it less competitive. Wolf vetoed a legislative resolution to prevent the state from participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and has to sue in the Commonwealth Court to force the tax into effect immediately.
Pennsylvania is the leading exporter of electricity among the states, a rare example of economic leadership in the state. Eliminate power producers with punitive taxes and feed-only regulations poor economic ratings in other fields. Pennsylvania has the 15th highest unemployment rate in the nation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and ranks 44th on the Multistate Open for Business Index.
“It doesn’t make sense to close coal plants early to ensure the safety of fuel stockpiles in place and an alternative when natural gas prices fall,” said Michelle Bloodworth, US CEO. natural and other resources spike or when other resources are no longer available. Power, an industrial trade group.
Bloodworth said, coal plants are among the The most reliable energy sources for a big time Texas Power Outage last February. According to a federal reportCoal-fired power plants accounted for less than 6% of power outages while natural gas and wind plants accounted for 58% and 27% respectively.
“If these factories are closed, there will be power-off,” said Baker. “I bought a home generator two years ago, and I am not the end of the world in a tin hat. I only know reality of the situation. ”
Gordon Tomb is a senior advisor to the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Va.
This comment is the first published February 8, 2022 at The Daily Signal.
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