Grid operator finds no service reliability problems with power plant shutdowns
The regional power grid operator has determined that the planned deactivation of two area power plants will not harm the reliability of the area’s electricity transmission system.
PJM Interconnection, which operates the power grid in Pennsylvania and 12 states and the District of Columbia, notified FirstEnergy Corp. that operating the Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station in Greene County and the Mitchell Power Station in Washington County beyond the planned Oct. 9 deactivation date is not required for system reliability.
“The Hatfield’s Ferry and Mitchell retirements are part of a massive fuel shift under way across the U.S. with many generation owners retiring coal-fired plants. Coal-fired generation faces competitive challenges from low natural gas prices resulting from an abundance of shale gas, the cost of complying with environmental regulations, incentives for renewable generation and slow growth in the demand for electricity,” PJM said.
A PJM official testified at a state Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee hearing in Waynesburg on Sept. 13 that any need to operate the plants beyond Oct. 9 due to system reliability would be very limited.
James H. Lash, president of FirstEnergy Generation, told the committee that retiring the plants would not impact reliability.
PJM confirmed that. It’s analysis of effects of the deactivations gave FirstEnergy the go ahead to close the plants, which have a combined workforce of 380 people.
“After completing our analysis, PJM Interconnection has concluded that generating units at FirstEnergy’s Hatfield’s Ferry and Mitchell power plants can be retired without harming transmission system reliability,” PJM said in a prepared statement.
PJM notified FirstEnergy about the findings in a letter dated Sept. 19.
“The letter said that, based on detailed studies, PJM and the affected transmission owners have determined that, while there are impacts to the transmission system as a result of the retirement of these generating units, those impacts can be handled by transmission upgrades and the implementation of temporary operating measures,” PJM said.
Most of those transmission upgrades were planned before FirstEnergy announced the plant closings and most would take place in surrounding states.
Some of the utilities that would implement the upgrades are FirstEnergy affiliates.
“Many of the transmission upgrades were already in the works because of other needs,” said PJM spokesman Ray Dotter.
PJM’s study identified 29 upgrades to American Electric Power (AEP) transmission lines and substations in Ohio, Virginia and Indiana. Some of the costliest projects include rebuilding a 345 kilovolt (KV) transmission in Ohio at a cost of $200 million, rebuilding a 138 KV line in Ohio for $40.5 million and installing a new 138 KV line in Virginia for $45 million.
American Transmission Systems Inc., (ATSI) one of FirstEnergy’s subsidiaries, would have to build a new 138 KV line along the Lake Erie shore in Ohio for $45 million.
The only project in Pennsylvania involves Penelec, another FirstEnergy subsidiary.
The company would have to replace a transformer in Blairsville at a cost of $4.2 million.