Washington, 27 January (Argus) — American Electric Power (AEP) during
the recent cold weather was running about 89pc of the coal generation
it has scheduled to retire in 2015, leading the company today to
question the reliability impacts of federal environmental rules.
Across its system, Columbus, Ohio-based AEP has 5,573MW of coal
generation due for retirement in 2015 because of the Environmental
Protection Agency's mercury and air toxics standard. About 71pc of the
company's total generating capacity of 37,600MW is coal-fired or about
26,700MW. Three years ago coal formed 82pc of its generation mix.
“What it should make everyone think about is, what are we going to when that generation is not available?” AEP told Argus today. “We need to be thinking about reliability and resilience in extreme times, not just the status quo.”
During the cold weather, disruptions in natural gas supplies led to a
sharp ramp-up of coal generation in the PJM Interconnection's 13-state
mid-Atlantic and northeastern territory. PJM confirmed that all of its
coal capacity was called upon during the cold weather, which is expected
to continue.
READ MORE: http://www.argusmedia.com/News/Article?id=886197
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