More of America's Coal-Fired Power Plants Cease Operations

New England's last coal-fired power plant 'has ceased operations three years ahead of its planned retirement date,' reports the New Hampshire Bulletin.

'The closure of the New Hampshire facility paves the way for its owner to press ahead with an initiative to transform the site into a clean energy complex including solar panels and battery storage systems.'

'The end of coal is real, and it is here,' said Catherine Corkery, chapter director for Sierra Club New Hampshire. 'We're really excited about the next chapter....' The closure in New Hampshire — so far undisputed by the federal government — demonstrates that prolonging operations at some facilities just doesn't make economic sense for their owners. 'Coal has been incredibly challenged in the New England market for over adecade,' said Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association.

Merrimack Station, a 438-megawatt power plant, came online in the1960s and provided baseload power to the New England region for decades. Gradually, though, natural gas — which is cheaper and more efficient — took over the regional market... Additionally, solar power production accelerated from 2010 on, lowering demand on the grid during the day and creating more evening peaks. Coal plants take longer to ramp up production than other sources, and are therefore less economical for these shorter bursts of demand, Dolan said. In recent years, Merrimack operated only a few weeks annually. In 2024, the plant generated just0.22% of the region's electricity. It wasn't making enough money to justify continued operations, observers said.
The closure 'is emblematic of the transition that has been occurring in the generation fleet in New England for many years,' Dolan said. 'The combination of all those factors has meant that coal facilities are no longer economic in this market.'


Meanwhile Los Angeles — America's second-largest city — confirmed that the last coal-fired power plant supplying its electricity stopped operations just before Thanksgiving,
reports the Utah News Dispatch:

Advocates from the Sierra Club highlighted in a news release that shutting down the units had no impact on customers, and questioned who should 'shoulder the cost of keeping an obsolete coal facility on standby....' Before ceasing operations, the coal units had been working at low capacities for several years because the agency's users hadn't been calling on the power [said John Ward, spokesperson for Intermountain Power Agency].

The coal-powered units 'had a combined capacity of around 1,800 megawatts when fully operational,' notes Electrek, 'and as recently as 2024, they still supplied around 11% of LA's electricity. The plant sits in Utah's Great Basin region and powered Southern California for decades.' Now, for the first time, none of California's power comes from coal.

There's a political hiccup with IPP, though: the Republican-controlled Utah Legislature blocked the Intermountain Power Agency from fully retiring the coal units this year, ordering that they can't be disconnected or decommissioned. But despite that mandate, no buyers have stepped forward to keep the outdated coal units online. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is transitioning to newly built, hydrogen-capable generating units at the same IPP location, part of a modernization effort called IPP Renewed. These new units currently run on natural gas, but they're designed to burn a blend of natural gas and up to 30% green hydrogen, and eventually100% green hydrogen. LADWP plans to start adding green hydrogen to the fuel mix in 2026.

'With the plant now idled but legally required to remain connected, serious questions remain about who will shoulder the cost of keeping an obsolete coal facility on standby,' says the Sierra Club.

One of the natural gas units started commerical operations last Octoboer, with the second starting later this month, IPP spokesperson John Ward told Agency].
the Utah News Dispatch.

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