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Entergy Mississippi on Nov. 7 celebrated the start of construction of a new $ 1.2 billion, 754-MW natural gas-fired power plant that will serve the utility’s customers across the state. The […]
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The post More Coal Cuts—AEP, Mississippi Power Detail Closures appeared first on POWER Magazine.
American Electric Power (AEP), which in 2019 reached an agreement to close Unit 1 of the two-unit, 2.6-GW coal-fired Rockport power plant in Indiana, has now announced a plan to close Unit 2 of the facility.
Both units at Rockport are now expected to be shuttered by year-end 2028. AEP, the parent of Indiana Michigan Power, which operates the plant, on April 22 announced it would purchase Unit 2 of the plant from Wilmington Trust Co., a financial services firm. The deal was made to ensure the retirement of both units.
Thursday’s announcement came as AEP announced its first-quarter 2021 earnings, which were $ 575 million, compared to $ 495 million for the same period in 2020. AEP, like many power generating companies, is retiring older power plants and replacing that generation with renewable energy resources. AEP has said its goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80% from its 2000 baseline by 2030.…
A settlement Mississippi Power reached on August 21 with stakeholders of the Kemper County facility will ensure customers won’t be subjected to rate increases associated with the now-abandoned gasification portion of the project. While that will affect revenues, the resolution could soften controversy surrounding the project and avoid protracted legal and financial turmoil, the company said.
Mississippi Power reached the settlement with Denbury Resources—the company under contract to buy all the project’s captured carbon, and which had already built a 61-mile carbon dioxide pipeline—along with three advocacy groups: the Central Mississippi Building and Construction Trades Council, the East Mississippi Business Development Corp., and the Ministerial Alliance Partnership.
It essentially provides that the annual revenue requirement—which is necessary to cover the power company’s expenses and have the opportunity to earn a fair rate of return—for the 2018 Kemper IGCC–related costs would be $ 126 million, resulting in no rate increase for customers now or in the future. It also proposes to modify the project’s 2010-awarded certificate of public convenience and necessity to limit the facility to operations of the natural gas combined cycle power plant, which was completed in 2014.…
The Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) at an open meeting on June 21 unanimously passed a motion instructing its counsel to prepare an order pursuing potential solutions regarding the Kemper County Power Generation Facility.
In a press release, the MPSC said the “Kemper Facility should operate using only natural gas.” The commission said it wanted to remove risk from ratepayers for the lignite coal gasifier and related assets, and ensure no further rate increases were incurred by Mississippi Power Co. customers. (In fact, the commission strongly encouraged rate reductions, particularly for residential customers.)
Mississippi Power issued a statement on the MPSC decision. It said, “The PSC provided several guidelines to consider for the negotiations, including the possibility of the project only operating as a natural gas-fueled combined cycle plant. We expect the process for any negotiations and this new docket will be formally addressed as part of a proposed order the Commission will consider at their July 6 meeting. We look forward to reviewing the order.”…