Thread: Coal plants already announcing shutdowns ahead of Obama admin’s regulations

Coal plants already announcing shutdowns ahead of Obama admin’s regulations

POSTED AT 8:01 PM ON JULY 11, 2013 BY ERIKA JOHNSEN

That’s really the goal, of course, of the Obama administrations incoming regulations. The hardcore eco-radicals will openly admit that, yes, a “war on coal” is precisely what’s needed to accomplish their goals, and that they do want to forcibly remove the coal industry from America’s (and someday, the world’s) energy scheme; but the Obama administration will deny the “war on coal” charge all day long, insisting that, why no, what we really want is just to nudge coal to become more clean and efficient, and eventually support a slow and steady shift in our energy scheme’s proportions as we begin to tackle this regrettably obstreperous problem of climate change.

That’s precisely why they made a point last week of very loudly announcing their plans to directly contribute $8 billion to an initiative to adapt these fossil-fuel “technologies to use them cleanly and more efficiently” as a crucial component of their supposed “all of the above” energy policy. Obama “expects fossil fuels, and coal specifically, to remain a significant contributor for some time,” his new Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz pointedly told reporters recently. Riiiiiight.

But in anticipation of his administration’s plans to regulate the heck of out both new and existing power plants, at least several coal plant have already announced forthcoming shutdowns. Here’s one instance:

FirstEnergy Corp will shut two coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania by Oct. 9 due to weak power prices and the high cost of complying with stricter environmental rules, the company said on Tuesday.

In a federal filing, FirstEnergy said it would recognize an impairment charge of about $488 million ($321 million after tax) in the second quarter of 2013 for the shutdowns.

The plants are Hatfields Ferry in Masontown and Mitchell in Courtney, FirstEnergy said in a release. It expects the shutdown of the two plants to affect about 380 employees.

Together, the company said the plants could generate 2,080 megawatts, about 10 percent of its total capacity. One megawatt can power about 1,000 homes.

FirstEnergy said it would cost about $275 million to install the equipment at the two plants to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

And, oh look, here’s another:

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 11, 2013 – American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) announced today that it expects to retire its 585-megawatt (MW) coal-fueled Muskingum River Plant Unit 5 in Beverly, Ohio, in 2015.

AEP reached an agreement with other parties in February to modify the company’s 2007 New Source Review Consent Decree and give AEP the option to retire Muskingum River Unit 5 or refuel it with natural gas. Due to the cost of compliance with environmental regulations and current market conditions, AEP has determined that it is unlikely to make the capital investment to refuel the unit. …

The company previously announced its intent to retire Muskingum River Units 1-4 (840 MW) in 2015. Approximately 95 employees working at Muskingum River Plant Units 1-5 will be impacted.

And get ready for more shutdowns and job losses, because that almost certainly won’t be the last of them.

Tags: Barack Obama, climate change, coal, jobs, Obama administration

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http://hotair.com/archives/2013/07/1...s-regulations/

your city/state better start getting ready for loss of jobs; Black-Out's; Brown Out's; Elevated Electricity costs ... Fake Climate Change which occurs 4 times a year; besides being manipulated by Geo-Engineering is designed to ROB YOU BLIND

39 Mins Ago by Suzanne Hamner

Obama’s EPA Regulations Forces Coal Plants To Close – Produces Unemployment & Sends Your Energy Bill Skyrocketing

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In less than two week since Obama announced his war on climate change and coal, two Pennsylvania coal plants are scheduled to close. The war on coal has progressed and America can add another coal-fired plants to the list of victims, bringing the total to three. American Electric Power (AEP) has been forced by the cost of complying with the federal environment regulations to shut down an Ohio coal plant rather than convert it to a natural gas burning power plant. According to Reuters, AEP’s Muskingum River coal plant will retire the 585 megawatt Unit 5 in 2015.
The Daily Caller reports that AEP, in February, reached a “settlement agreement with environmental groups, eight US states and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to modify a 2007 lawsuit to stop burning coal at three power plants in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio by 2015.” The power company was given the option to modify the plant in Ohio, but “high regulatory costs and market conditions made the company decide to retire the plant instead.

In its report, the Daily Caller indicated:

Environmental regulations, lawsuits brought by activist groups and low-priced natural gas have contributed to the shutdown or slated retirement of more than 15,000 megawatts of coal-fired power plants. Power companies are scheduled to shut down more than 37,000 megawatts of coal-fired electrical generation in the next decade. As a reminder, one megawatt of coal-fired electrical generation can power 1,000 homes.
“Across the country, the coal industry faces unprecedented setbacks as its share of electrical generation plummets and the cost of coal continues to skyrocket,” said Jody Perras, Indiana Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “This agreement is only the latest sign of progress as our country continues to transition away from dirty, dangerous, and expensive coal-fired power plants.”

EPA regulations have contributed to the shutdown of two Pennsylvania coal plants; upgrading the Hatsfield’s Ferry and Mitchell plants would have cost the company $275 million.

Rep. Tim Murphy, Pennsylvania Republican who represents the district where the coal plants are located said, “The front line of the administration’s war on coal is right here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and the casualties are the factories and homeowners who will pay higher electric bills, as well as the hundreds of utility workers, boilermakers, and miners who will be out of work. With the shutdown of the Mitchell plant and Hatsfield’s Ferry, which just four short years ago underwent $1 billion in upgrades, the president is making good on his promise to ‘bankrupt’ anyone who operates a coal plant.”

According to Reuters:

AEP said the addition of Muskingum River 5 brings AEP Ohio’s total retirements to 3,123 MW. The remaining 10,725 MW of AEP Ohio-owned generation – including 2,427 MW slated to be transferred to Appalachian Power and Kentucky Power following state regulatory approvals – will consist of coal and natural gas plants and a small hydro plant.

The company previously announced its intent to retire Muskingum Units 1-4 (840 MW) in 2015. AEP said about 95 employees working at Muskingum will be affected.

AEP said it will work to provide displaced employees with opportunities at other AEP facilities.

In a statement just before the November 2012 elections, Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s brain, said, “After we win this election, it’s our turn. Payback time. Everyone not with us is against us and they better be ready because we don’t forget. The ones who helped us will be rewarded, the ones who opposed us will get what they deserve. There is going to be hell to pay. Congress won’t be a problem for us this time. No election to worry about after this is over and we have two judges ready to go.”

Basically, Valerie Jarrett informed the nation before the November Presidential election the tone of the Obama administration after winning. Did America catch that statement or did America sleep right through it? When that statement was made, “After we win this election, it’s our turn,” it was before the election which could mean Jarrett knew the election was in the bag. Obama’s second term as President, according to Jarrett, who is Iranian born, was to be one of punishment, payback and those opposed to the administration “paying hell.” The Obama administration has been all about revenge; no interest in the country, its people or the laws of the land, just revenge on those who are not standing with the administration. In her obvious anger toward America, which she is an extension of the illegitimate President, Jarrett stated “no election to worry about after this is over and we have two judges ready to go.” Could it mean no elections any more for President or Congress?

Whatever those statements meant, Obama has stepped up his game in the war on America comprising future economic growth, employment and America’s way of life. More coal-fired electrical plants may be slated for retirement in the future as this out of control EPA regulation stranglehold continues to grip the power industry. The funny thing is, Obama carried the union states where most of the coal mines are located: guess President Obama (Jarrett) forgot about those states. It looks like hell hath no fury like an empty suit borrowing an Islamic brain scorned.

To all the liberals and those who voted Obama in for a second term, you must have misunderstood the stance of an Islamic, Communist, Marxist, Socialist, Sharia law, narcissistic, psychopathic, racist, little boy, lost individual seeking the office of the President of the United States. To ensure there will be no more misunderstandings, it is spelled out for you here – using simple sentences so you can understand.

Islam is not a religion of peace. Islam is an oppressive, totally controlling political system using Sharia law. Sharia law is based on the rantings of a mad man, who was also a pedophile, and has no equal or fair justice system. To anyone who is Islamic, those who do not believe as Islam are considered infidels. Infidels are to be subjugated, converted or killed. There is no freedom in Islam.

Communism has only two classes of individuals – rich and dirt poor. People who accept their flawed logic and political system are considered to be useful idiots. Useful idiots are the first ones to go when their plans are close to being fulfilled. There is no equal or fair justice system in Communism. Communism forces individuals to submit and those who don’t like it are killed or imprisoned. There is no escape and there is no freedom. The members of the Communist elite get richer and richer off the slave labor of their subjects. There is no equality. There is no equal living standard.

Any person who has as many philosophies playing out all at once as Obama has no solid foundation and bases decisions and actions on an emotional whim. A person like this bends with the wind and supports any fad that makes himself richer and everyone else poorer.

If these ideas cannot be grasped, the Communist education implemented in this country has done its job. You can be secure in the knowledge that it was you who ushered in the days of destruction of the last bastion of freedom in the world.


http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/07/ba...-skyrocketing/

http://www.alipac.us/f9/obama-use-%2...nds-un-283138/