PSEG to close two coal-fired power plants in New Jersey
Published by Jonathan Rowland,
Editor
World Coal,
US utility, PSEG, is to close two coal-fired power plants on 1 June 2017 – earlier than initially planned. The plants in Jersey City and Hamilton Township employ 200 people with combined capacity of 1252 MW.
In a statement, PSEG President and Chief Operating Office, Bill Levis, blamed the decision to close the tow plants on sustained low gas prices and the cost of investment required to upgrade the plants to meet new reliability standards.
“The plants have been infrequently called on to run and neither plant cleared the last two PJM capacity auctions,” added Levis. “The plants’ capacity payments have been critical to their profitability and PSEG’s ability to continue to invest in modernising them.”
The Hudson Generation Station in Jersey City opened in 1960, while Mercer Generation Station in Hamilton Township opened in 1968. With their closure, coal’s share of New Jersey’s energy mix will dwindle to almost nothing with natural gas and nuclear taking an almost equal share. Renewable generation also accounts for a small but growing share.
Last call for coal in the Garden State: PSEG to retired 2 coal-fired power plants in NJ. https://t.co/cyGO0Nqyvl pic.twitter.com/udsIt0G76t
— Andrew Maykuth (@Maykuth) October 6, 2016
These plants have played a critical role in powering the growth and economic expansion of New Jersey,” concluded Lewis. “We will work with our union and PSEG leadership to ensure that the plants continue to operate safely through their retirement dates and to place as many employees as possible within PSEG’s family of companies.”
The company added that is was evaluating options for future use of the sites. Public Service Enterprise Group – PSEG – is a publicly traded diversified energy company headquartered in New Jersey with annual revenues of US$10.4 billion, making it one of the ten largest electric companies in the US.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/13102016/pseg-to-close-two-coal-fired-power-plants-in-new-jersey/
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