Coal is being put down for its environmental issues and for how much it costs to mine compared to oil and natural gas.
But it’s still a big energy producer, right?
Appalachian Power, a company with power plants in both Virginia and West Virginia, decided that coal power may not be worth the cost.
To keep up with recent changes in environmental rules, such as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, many of the company’s plants would need to be shut down for five years or more at time and could cost up to $2,407 per kilowatt – just to continue functioning!
Of course, the company also decided that, “it was ‘imprudent… to have its customers bear such costs…’”
Their alternate plan includes the shutting down and dismantling of many older structures. But for those that could survive the change, there may be a chance at redemption. APCo is converting several viable plants to natural gas instead, which offers a longer life-span at less than half the cost per kilowatt of upgrading their coal-burning techniques.
To read the story for yourself…
