Gulf Power announces plan to retire last coal assets in Florida

Gulf Power notified the Florida Public Service Commission this week that it intends to modernize its Plant Crist facility and convert it to run entirely on natural gas, retiring the plant’s coal assets early and ending the company’s last coal units in Florida.

By converting Plant Crist, which is based in Escambia County, Gulf estimates it will reduce the plant’s carbon emissions rate by 40 percent, or the equivalent of 297,000 vehicles removed from the road each year. Additionally, the company will build on these efforts with four new, highly efficient combustion turbines and a new natural gas pipeline, boosting reliability and efficiency, as well as providing more natural gas for the plant. All in all, this should reduce the operating costs for customers.

“Retiring coal at Plant Crist will end our use of coal in Florida and help usher in a new, cleaner energy era for Gulf Power,” Marlene Santos, president of Gulf Power, said. “Ending our use of coal delivers benefits for our customers and our communities through lower costs along with cleaner emissions. We look forward to continuing to invest in cleaner energy solutions for Northwest Florida, including more efficient natural gas technology as well as emissions-free solar farms.”

Beatings from Hurricane Sally sped up the retirement drive, owing to the level of damage inflicted on the plant’s equipment. As a result, Gulf Power took the opportunity to advance modernization instead of replacing the damaged equipment and filed a petition to begin the recovery of storm restoration costs related to the storm. The slow-moving storm slammed the area with strong winds, storm surge, and flooding.

In the week’s filings, Gulf Power also asked to adjust its Environmental Cost Recovery Clause for 2021 to reflect savings provided by the early retirement. This could reduce typical residential customer bills by around $0.73 as of March 2021.