Coal

Pennsylvania’s largest coal plant will close by July

The Homer City Generating Station was operated at an annual capacity factor of 82% in 2005, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The capacity factor dropped to 20% in 2022.
Pennsylvania’s largest coal plant will close by July
(Source: Wikimedia.)

The coal-fired Homer City Generating Station in Pennsylvania will close by July 2023, according to plant ownership.

The 1,888 MW plant began generating electricity in 1969, when Units 1 and 2 entered service. Unit 3 was added in 1977. For 30 years, the plant operated almost continuously, achieving a utilization rate, called a capacity factor, near 90%.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the market landscape changed for the Homer City plant at the turn of the 21st century. New emissions standards for power plants under the Clean Air Act required the plant to install FGD scrubbers on Unit 3 in 2001 and on Units 1 and 2 in 2014. Pollution control upgrades in 2014 cost the plant owners a reported $750 million. Ownership of the plant changed after bankruptcy in 2017.

As more natural gas-fired plants were built, the Homer City plant was dispatched more for load following instead of for base load. EIA said this change increased annual maintenance costs for the Homer City plant, on top of the debt incurred from the pollution control upgrades.

The Homer City plant was operated at an annual capacity factor of 82% in 2005, according to EIA data. The capacity factor dropped to 20% in 2022, contributing in the decision to retire the plant.

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Power Plant Operations Report

Coal plants across the country are retiring due to clean energy mandates and economics. U.S. coal-fired capacity has decreased from 313 GW in 2005 to around 196 GW today.