Texas coal plant shutdown will 'devastate' the local community, locals tell FOX Business
Fox News: A coal-fired power plant is pictured near Page, Arizona. (Plus49/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images)(Getty Images)
A plan to prematurely cease operations at a coal-fired power plant in eastern Texas early next year has sparked angst among members of the local community who fear severe economic consequences.
In 2020, Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), a subsidiary of the Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP), announced it would close H.W. Pirkey Power Plant, a large 721-megawatt coal plant located in Hallsville, Texas, in March 2023. SWEPCO told FOX Business that it elected to shutter the plant "after an economic analysis weighing the cost of environmental compliance and needed maintenance."
The company — which operates 11 power plants, including Pirkey, and serves nearly 550,000 customers across Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana — also said it had ultimately factored customer costs into its decision.
"One of the factors considered was impact on customer rates for the cost of completing this work. Customers will benefit from this decision," Scott Blake, a spokesperson for AEP, told FOX Business in an email. "When the announcement was made, we immediately began working with the community to do everything possible to lessen the impacts of the plant’s closure."
Among the many state and federal regulations coal-fired power plants are faced with is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) coal combustion residuals (CCR) rule, which is designed to protect the environment from excess coal ash contamination. The costs associated with complying with the CCR rule was a main driver leading to the Pirkey plant's planned shutdown.
In addition, two environmental groups, the Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club, filed a lawsuit against the EPA last month, accusing the agency of failing to enforce federal emissions standards at the Pirkey Power Plant and seven other Texas facilities.
However, the decision to close the Hallsville plant has sent reverberations through the tiny town, which relies upon the plant for direct and indirect economic support as well as reliable energy, according to several members of the community.