Coal plants cancelled in 2008

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Related resources

• "$45.3 Billion In U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants Cancelled In 2007," Resource Media fact sheet (1/8/08)
• Coal plants cancelled in 2007
• US proposed coal plants - a list of all coal plant proposals by state
• Citizen groups working on coal issues - a list of grassroots groups actively working on coal plant proposals (250+ groups)

Background

Between 2000 and 2006, over 150 coal plant proposals were fielded by utilities in the United States. By the end of 2007, 10 of those proposed plants had been constructed, and an additional 25 plants were under construction. During 2007 at least 59 coal plants were cancelled, abandoned, or put on hold.

Plants cancelled, abandoned, or put on hold in 2008

Since the beginning of 2008, the following 18 proposed coal plants have been cancelled, abandoned, or put on hold, including 17 projects the United States and 1 project in the Netherlands:

• The plan by Buffalo Managers and Montgomery Energy Partners to build the Buffalo Energy Project, a 1100 MW IGCC plant in Glenrock, Wyoming, appears to have been abandoned. October, 2008.

• Western Greenbrier Co-Production issues an official news release stating that it had cancelled the Western Greenbrier Co-Production Demonstration Project, a 98MW circulating fluidized bed coal plant in West Virginia. The United States DOE had previously notified company officials that it was pulling all funding for the project. September 2008.

• Coal magnate John Rich admits that because of ballooning costs and lack of government support, he has given up on setting a timeline for the construction of the Gilberton Coal-to-Clean-Fuels and Power Project, the nation's first coal-to-oil plant, in Gilberton, Pennsylvania. August 2008.

• Westward Energy fails to submit a siting application to the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Board, causing observers to conclude that the Lower Columbia Clean Energy Center, a 520 megawatt IGCC plant, had been abandoned. August 2008.

• Albuquerque, New Mexico-based PNM says it will not pursue its 600 megawatt Twin Oaks Power Unit 3 expansion in Robertson County, Texas. In 2007 PNM signed a non-binding letter of intent to contribute the existing Twin Oaks station to Energy Co, an unregulated energy joint venture with Bill Gates' Cascade Investments unit. August 2008.

• Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announces that two aging coal plants, the Charter Street Plant and the Capitol Heat and Power Plant, both located in Dane County, will be shut down and replaced with cleaner systems. The decision followed legal action and grassroots protests and lobbying by members of the Sierra Club, students at the University of Wisconsin, and other activists. August 2008

• Minnkota Power Cooperative announces that it will delay building the Milton Young 3 station until 2026. In the meantime, the company has agreed to an arrangement with FPL Energy under which Minnkota will receive 99 MW of peak output from FPL's wind farm in Cavalier County, ND. June 2008.

• Westmoreland Power announces that it is suspending development of the Gascoyne 500 Project the plant in North Dakota and returning $562,500 in state state subsidies for the project. The company cites lack of a customer for the power and uncertainty over carbon regulation. Company spokesman Keith Alessi writes to the N.D. Industrial Commission: "There is much uncertainty in the utility sector on when future carbon regulation will come into effect. This has slowed the development of coal-fired power plants. ... At this time (we) cannot predict when a long-term customer (for the plant's electricity) can be found and the actual plant construction could commence." May 2008.

• Essent cancels its proposed Geertruidenberg Power Station in the Netherlands, stating that it had received limited emission rights for carbon dioxide. May 2008.

• West Virginia's State Corporation Commission (SCC) rejects Appalachian Power Company's Mountaineer IGCC plant, a proposed 629 MW facility in Mason County. According to the SCC, Appalachian Power's estimate of $2.33 billion, which had not been revised since November 2006, was "not credible." April 2008

• Agrium Corp. says a combination of rising construction costs and a worsening U.S. economy has convinced the company not to proceed with the Kenai Blue Sky Project, a coal gasification facility and adjacent electrical generating plant that the company had planned to build at its fertilizer plant on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. March 2008.

• Associated Electric Cooperative announces that it is cancelling its 660 MW Norborne Baseload Plant. The company cites three reasons: (1) an increase in costs to $ 2 billion due to “worldwide demand for engineering, skilled labor, equipment and materials"; the Rural Utilities Service’s cancellation of financing for coal projects; and the increased regulatory and cost uncertainties surrounding carbon dioxide. The coop plans to pursue a combination of efficiency measures, wind power, and nuclear power. March 2008.

• In an NRG conference call, Robert Flexon - NRG's CFO - stated that the company had abandoned the Big Cajun II Unit 4 project in Louisiana, due to the fact that the company had only been able to contract out 450 of the plant's 705 MW. February 2008.

• AES withdraws its application with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to build the AES Colorado Power Project, a 640 MW coal-fired power plant in Washington County, west of Akron, Colorado. January 2008.

• Dynegy / LS Power withdraws its application with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for a permit to build the High Plains Energy Station, a 600 MW coal-fired power plant in Morgan County, Colorado. January 2008.

• Radar Acquisitions Corp., of Calgary, Alberta, announces that its deal with West Hawk Development to explore the possibility of an IGCC plant near Limon, Colorado, where it owns 22,500 acres of surface rights and coal, has been terminated, putting an end to the proposed Buick Coal and Power Project. January 2008.

• The U.S. Department of Energy cancels plans to build the experimental FutureGen plant in Mattoon, Illinois, which would attempt to capture and FutureGen is a proposed coal plant in Mattoon, Illinois. January 2008.