NARUC releases white paper on impact coal-fired power plants

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) released a white paper that examines the impacts of changes in the electricity generation mix on operating coal-fired power plants.

Over the past two years, about 30 gigawatts of coal capacity having retired. The report, called Recent Changes to U.S. Coal Plant Operations and Current Compensation Practices, looks at the shift from coal generation towards natural gas and renewables.

For example, in Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma, coal was replaced almost entirely by wind generation. In Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, coal was replaced with natural gas generation.

The report offers an overview of strategies for coal plant owners and operators to manage costs while providing flexible electricity.

“State energy regulators need to ensure that reliable power can be delivered to customers, regardless of whether or not the sun is shining or wind is blowing,” NARUC Chairman Kara Fornstrom of the Wyoming Public Service Commission, vice chair of NARUC’s Subcommittee on Clean Coal and Carbon Management, said. “This report looks at challenges faced by coal plants that are now operating as cycling resources, and presents options for operators and regulators.”

The report, authored by Phillip Graeter and Seth Schwartz, of Energy Ventures Analysis, was developed under the Carbon Capture Storage and Utilization Partnership between NARUC and the United States Department of Energy.

“With significant coal retirements expected to continue in the future, an evidence-based assessment of the impacts of a changing fuel mix on existing coal plants is valuable for state energy regulators as they consider how to manage costs for customers,” Danielle Sass Byrnett, director of NARUC’s Center for Partnerships & Innovation, said.