Published: October 7, 2020 |

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Texas-based energy company Vistra Energy plans to accelerate its transition to clean power generation sources and advance efforts to significantly reduce its carbon footprint. The company launched Vistra Zero, a portfolio of zero-carbon power generation facilities, which includes seven new developments — some solar, solar + storage and standalone energy storage — in its primary market of ERCOT that total nearly 1,000 MW.

In addition, Vistra established further long-term emissions reduction targets, released its first climate report and announced its intention to retire all of its generation subsidiaries’ coal plants in Illinois and Ohio. […]

Vistra also announced its next phase of coal plant closures in Illinois and Ohio. The company expects to retire seven Luminant power plants, of which the company owns a combined capacity of more than 6,800 MW, between 2022 and 2027.

Since the company’s leadership change in 2016, Vistra and its subsidiaries have closed or announced the closure of 19 coal plants totaling more than 16,000 MW across Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Massachusetts. In total, Vistra and its subsidiaries have now retired or announced the retirement of more than 19,000 MW at 23 coal and natural gas plants since 2010.

Vistra said it will retire the Baldwin and Joppa plants in southern Illinois no later than 2025, “or sooner should economic or other conditions dictate.” The Kincaid and Newton plants southeast of Springfield will close no later than 2027, again with the same caveat.

The four plants together employ about 400. […]

Under the plan, which requires action in Springfield, Vistra would convert its coal-plant sites into utility-scale solar facilities accompanied by powerful batteries that could store some of the energy when it’s not needed.

Vistra already has announced the planned closure of the Edwards plant near Peoria, which will occur by the end of 2022.

“I’m deeply disappointed in Vistra’s plan to retire their Kincaid plant, which employs 115 of our friends and neighbors. The Kincaid plant has created good-paying union jobs and reliable, baseload power for households and manufacturers in Illinois and states in the Mid-Atlantic region for decades. Because the plant is a significant employer and generator of local tax revenue in Christian County, our hometowns, schools, and other public bodies will be negatively affected by this closure. Our Congressional office stands ready to support the workers and communities impacted,” said Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis.

“I have always been an advocate for an all-of-the-above energy portfolio, but I am becoming increasingly concerned about the planned nuclear, coal, and gas plant closures across Illinois in the coming years. Our state cannot continue to be a leading net electricity exporter if this trend continues. Additional plant closures will put thousands of good-paying union jobs and reliable, affordable power at risk. I’m committed to making sure American energy policy supports a diverse, reliable, and affordable array of baseload energy sources. American families need certainty that when they flip a switch, they will have access to low-cost, reliable electricity. We can’t let America’s energy future look like California brownouts and blackouts, but the Green New Deal and other far-fetched, left-wing environmental proposals are moving us closer to that sad reality,” added Davis.

Source: Capital Fax

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