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Old 29-07-12, 02:35   #1
The Enigma
 
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Default Record number of coal-fired generators to be shut down in 2012

Record number of coal-fired generators to be shut down in 2012
By Michael Bastasch



Facing declining demand for electricity and stiff federal environmental regulations, coal plant operators are planning to retire 175 coal-fired generators, or 8.5 percent of the total coal-fired capacity in the United States, according to an analysis by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

A record-high 57 generators will shut down in 2012, representing 9 gigawatts of electrical capacity, according to EIA. In 2015, nearly 10 gigawatts of capacity from 61 coal-fired generators will be retired.

While many of those coal plants are old and relatively inefficient, the scope of this new planned shutdown is unprecedented.

“The coal-fired capacity expected to be retired over the next five years is more than four times greater than retirements performed during the preceding five-year period,” EIA noted in the analysis.

The generators that will be retired between 2012 and 2016 are “approximately 12% more efficient than the group of units, on average, that retired during 2009-2011,” according to the EIA.

The low price of natural gas resulting from the shale boom has led to reduced coal consumption and made the shutdowns necessary, experts say.

But federal and state regulations have also damaged the industry and contributed to plant closures.

“The cost of compliance with anticipated and existing Federal environmental regulations such as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) is a factor,” the EIA noted. “Particularly in the case of older, smaller units that are not used heavily, owners may conclude it is more cost efficient to retire plants rather than make additional investments.”

Most of the coal-fired generator retirements will occur in the Mid-Atlantic, Ohio River Valley and the Southeast.


I am sure this should make our Canadian neighbors happy. For ages its been a complaint that coal fired has contributed to acid rain, killing miles of forests. It will also make the environmental groups happy to see them shut down.

But where it may not have people happy is where electricity is not in abundant supply. You will recall that the last few years has seen parts of California with what was known as rolling brown-outs. Places where there is not enough electricity to go around. Nor is California the only place rolling brown-outs occur in the summer. To name another where this was going on just last year was San Antonio, Texas.

What happens then is there is too much of a load being demanded from air conditioners, industry, and daily uses like when supper is cooked city-wide. This has been pretty much a result of two main factors. One is the NIMBY effect. (Not In My Back Yard) Every time a new power plant has been suggested to be built, groups start saying they don't want it in their area. In California this protest is bad enough that they built the next power plant in Mexico where the EPA standards aren't as restrictive and zoning laws aren't so prohibitive. The second main factor has been zoning/EPA/government regulations to be met. They are so tedious that most of the power companies aren't even considering replacing old facilities until the hue and cry become a bargaining demand to allow breaks on getting them built.

Just recently in this past year, power rates have started up. It's not market driven by there being less but rather driven by the need to rebuild the infrastructure in many local areas. Other than storms that wipe out old power lines and poles, most of the lines were put up after WWII and were merely repaired as needed. We're to the point now that we need more power. The existing grid isn't capable of supplying it. So the power companies have been allowed to charge for the upcoming upgrade. Rates in some places like where I live have gone up as much as a ⅓ to cover the cost of the on-going upgrade.

T. Boon Pickens decided to invest in wind energy and went into it big time. For a couple of years you could see semis moving wind turbine blades all along the south east. It is my understanding that he later decided to get out of it because it wasn't going to pay off as big as he had hoped. The cost of a totally new grid to handle the power was one of the contributing factors to his decision not to continue and he sold most of his interests in it.

In the move towards more energy efficient transportation, we now have hybrid cars, part internal combustion engine, part electrical drive. Those hybrids and the all electrical cars require charging at substantial rates that mean changes to the supply wiring of most personal homes. Now I have not kept up with this advance as it has changed in the market and it may well now be that there are ways to charge without the change out to a charging station. If so, it is likely it means longer charge times. What no one has explained to me is how cities and power companies are going to handle this power demand load when everyone wants to charge their cars in the evening. Given that we are already seeing shortages around the nation in the summers. Nor is the grid at present set up to serve such a demand continually and long term.
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