Joppa coal, natural gas plant to retire in 2022 as Vistra focuses on a cleaner energy future
The Vistra-owned Joppa Power Plant, a coal and natural gas-based facility in Illinois, will close significantly earlier than anticipated, with an announcement last week that it will only survive until a max of Sept. 1, 2022.
That marks a retirement three years earlier than previously stated, as part of a settlement agreement between Vistra and Sierra Club. The agreement follows a legal battle begun in 2018, in which the Sierra Club alleged the plant had exceeded state groundwater standards in dozens of cases.
“The hardest decisions we make are those that impact the dedicated men and women of our plant workforce and the local communities,” Curt Morgan, CEO of Vistra, said. “In this case, we agreed to shut down the Joppa plant in light of the legal uncertainties and significant economic challenges facing the plant. First and foremost, we will work with our team members and the impacted communities to ensure a just transition, including our commitment to pay $1.1 million in incremental property taxes over three years. As part of this just transition, we remain focused on passing the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act, which will enable us to reinvest and repurpose sites like Joppa into zero-emission generation, using existing infrastructure, creating jobs, and adding to the property tax base.”
Vistra noted that it has $550 million ready to invest in the repurposing of coal plant sites across central and southern Illinois. That includes $59 million set aside for the Joppa location as well. In each case, these funds would go toward transforming the plants into renewable energy centers. With political support, the company believes it could develop nine sites into approximately 300 MW of utility-scale solar and 175 MW of battery energy storage by 2025. This would also more than triple Illinois’ in-state utility-scale solar generation capacity and more than double its battery storage capacity.
However, in the wake of the announcement, Morgan also took the opportunity to blame what he called a dysfunctional MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) market for the pressure on coal plants, along with significant maintenance costs. Joppa has been open since 1953 and currently consists of six coal units and five natural gas units. It is run by Vistra’s subsidiary, Electric Energy, Inc.
Meanwhile, the Sierra Club focused on the gains it saw in the new arrangement.
“This agreement with Vistra Energy is an important step forward in securing critical transition support, over $1 million in additional property tax payments, for the local Illinois communities that will be impacted by the closure of the Joppa coal plant,” Jack Darin, Sierra Club Illinois director, said. “The agreement will not only prevent millions of tons of dangerous air pollution from one of the oldest coal plants in Illinois, it will also require Vistra to install additional groundwater monitors that will help Sierra Club and our local members advocate for the safest coal ash closure plan under Illinois’ new coal ash regulations recently adopted by the Illinois Pollution Control Board. The retirement of the Joppa plant next year is the latest urgent call for Illinois to begin now to help workers and communities facing the inevitable transition away from fossil fuels.”
