Karn Generating Plant
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Dan E. Karn Generating Plant is a coal-, gas-, and oil-fired power station owned and operated by CMS Energy near Essexville, Michigan.
The plant's two coal-fired units are planned for retirement in 2023. Consumers Energy plans to replace that power through wind energy, as part of the utility's pledge to eliminate the use of coal to generate electricity by 2040. Consumers will continue to operate units three and four at Karn, which run on oil and gas.[1]
Contents
- 1 Location
- 2 Background
- 3 Plant Data
- 4 Emissions Data
- 5 Coal waste Sites
- 6 Consumers Energy cancels Karn/Weadock expansion and announces retirement of two units at Karn/Weadock complex
- 7 Karn and Weadock Generating Plants ranked 33nd on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste
- 8 Articles and Resources
Location
The power station is located at 2742 N. Weadock Highway in Essexville, Michigan. Pictured below are both the Karn and Weadock plants, both of which belong to CMS.
Background
The power station consists of two units that are fueled by coal and two that are fueled by oil and natural gas. The coal-fired units 1 and 2 are 258 MW each and were commissioned in 1959 and 1961, respectively. Units 3 and 4 are oil- and gas-fueled and were commissioned in 1957 and 1977.[2]
Plant Data
- Owner: Consumers Energy Company
- Parent Company: CMS Energy
- Plant Nameplate Capacity: 544 MW (Megawatts)
- Units and In-Service Dates: 258 MW (1959), 258 MW (1961)
- Location: 2742 North Weadock Hwy., Essexville, MI 48732
- GPS Coordinates: 43.642089, -83.838188
- Coal Consumption:
- Coal Source:
- Number of Employees:
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 4,261,230 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 18,410 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 4,141 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 249 lb.
Coal waste Sites
Consumers Energy cancels Karn/Weadock expansion and announces retirement of two units at Karn/Weadock complex
On December 2, 2011, Consumers Energy announced that is was cancelling the proposed 800 megawatt Karn/Weadock Generating Complex Expansion because of "reduced customer demand for electricity due to the recession and slow economic recovery, surplus generating capacity in the Midwest market, and lower natural gas prices linked to expanded shale gas supplies." In addition, the company announced that it was suspending operations by the end of 2014 at seven existing generating units, included two units at the Whiting Generating Plant, two units at the Cobb Generating Plant, and two at the Karn Weadock Generating Complex. The company reported that it began construction in November 2011 of its first wind farm, the 100 MW Lake Winds Energy Park, in Mason County. Consumers Energy is also developing the 150 MW Cross Winds Energy Park in Tuscola County.[3]
Karn and Weadock Generating Plants ranked 33nd on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste
In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill.[4] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[5]
Together Karn and Weadock Generating Plants ranked 33rd on the list, with 1,171,382 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[4]
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ "Last coal plant on the Saginaw Bay goes offline in 2023," M Live, June 13, 2018
- ↑ "Karn-Weadock and Combustion Turbines Fact Sheet," Hampton Township, accessed June 2018
- ↑ "Consumers Energy announces cancellation of proposed new coal plant, continued substantial investments in major coal units, anticipated suspension of operation of smaller units in 2015," Consumers Energy press release, December 2, 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sue Sturgis, "Coal's ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?," Institute for Southern Studies, January 4, 2009.
- ↑ TRI Explorer, EPA, accessed January 2009.
- Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
- Facility Registry System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed Feb. 2009.
Related SourceWatch Articles
- Existing U.S. Coal Plants
- Michigan and coal
- CMS Energy
- United States and coal
- Global warming
- Weadock Generating Plant
- Karn/Weadock Generating Complex Expansion
External Articles
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