Florida Power & Light to close Cedar Bay coal-fired power plant

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) announced plans this week to shut down the Cedar Bay Generating Plant on Dec. 31, 2016.

FPL purchased the 250-megawatt coal-fired plant, located in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2015 with the intention of phasing it out of service.

Prior to the acquisition, FPL had been required to purchase power from the facility as per a 1988 agreement with the plant’s former owners. When FPL began producing cleaner energy at a lower cost by modernizing its system, the agreement became uneconomic. FPL then purchased the plant in order to nullify the purchasing agreement.

“Buying and shutting down old, inefficient coal plants is unprecedented in America,” FPL president and CEO Eric Silagy said. “I’m very proud of our employees for proposing this innovative approach that’s environmentally beneficial and saves customers millions of dollars.”

Shutting down the plant is expected to stop 1 million tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted and save customers $70 million. After the facility shutdown is complete, FPL will dismantle it over a span of approximately two years.

FPL is also purchasing another coal-fired facility in Indiantown, Florida that will be phased out by the end of 2018. The company has saved customers more than $8 billion in fuel costs and prevented more than 95 million tons of carbon emissions due to their energy efficient practices. One such practice was the recent installation of 1 million solar panels at three new solar energy centers, which will provide a generating capacity of 224 megawatts.