Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. plans to shut down power-generating units at six old coal-fired plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, rather than install federally mandated pollution control devices, according to the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The power company said it would completely shut down the Armstrong Power Plant in Adrian, Pa.; the Ashtabula, Oregon and Eastlake, Ohio, plants; and another facility in Williamsport, Md. One generating unit at a fifth plant, in Bayshore, Ohio, will be closed, leaving a remaining unit at that plant open.
The closings will affect some 530 employees, but some may still transfer to other FirstEnergy facilities if there are openings.
Charlie Lasky, FirstEnergy vice president for fossil fleet operations, said the company determined that upgrading the aging plants to meet the new federal mercury and air toxins rules would have been too expensive.
At least one of the plants, the Armstrong facility, had only been working at between 20 and 50 percent capacity because of reduced power demands.
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