New EPA standards for coal plant emissions already working to clear our skies
Here’s some great news! With EPA tightening the standards for coal plant emissions, Energy Future Holdings, the parent company of Luminant (formerly TXU) and the major electric power provider for much of North and West Texas, is considering how to respond to new federal clean-air regulations. Yesterday they announced they will mothball 3 coal plants in Northeast Texas.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it was looking at all options including other shutdowns or slowdowns, as well as seasonal or temporary shutdowns, and the option of installing scrubbers to remove sulfur dioxide from plant emissions, or even switching fuels to fire the furnaces that generate the steam used to generate electric power.
This will significantly improve air quality and the health of people that live near the plants and downwind. The company is concerned about the expense of controls that would be needed for these old and dirty plants.
CPS Energy in San Antonio is already planning to mothball and then retire Deely 1 & 2 coal plants for the same reasons.
Blue skies smiling at me,
Nothing but blue skies do I see
Ozone days, all of them gone
Nothing but blue skies from now on