Given the loss of baseload power, the inability for new coal or gas-fired plants to meet the level of carbon capture required by the power plant rule and the time required to build even intermittent renewables or low-capacity turbines, Buckeye Power Inc. expects reliability issues and significantly higher electric rates for its consumers if the power plant rule goes into effect.
Buckeye Power is a nonprofit corporation that provides wholesale electric service to 25 members, including all of Ohio’s electric distribution cooperatives. Buckeye’s member co-ops serve around 400,000 consumers, 91% of whom are residential and many of whom live in persistent poverty conditions.
Buckeye’s energy generation portfolio includes coal, natural gas and renewable energy resources. Buckeye relies on coal-fired power plants for most of its current generation needs, but those plants will be forced to shut down by the Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant rule. Neither carbon capture and storage technology nor natural gas co-firing are viable compliance options for these plants, and the power plant rule does not even give Buckeye enough time to try.
The forced shutdowns by 2032 will require Buckeye to either buy new power from the market or build new generation to keep their customers’ lights on and ensure system reliability.
The only technically viable option Buckeye sees under the time constraints of the rule is to build a large number of low-capacity gas-fueled combustion turbines together with market purchases and the use of renewable sources. Planning would need to begin immediately. The cost of the turbines alone is estimated at $1.5 billion.
Replacing the retired units with market power for just eight years under current conditions would cost Buckeye approximately $850 million to $1.5 billion, costs that would ultimately be paid by consumers in Buckeye’s area. However, the market under the power plant rule is unlikely to resemble current conditions. The loss of 20% of the United States electric supply due to the forced closure of coal-fired power plants nationwide is likely to drive up electricity prices across the board.
Given the loss of coal and gas-fired baseload power, the inability for new coal or gas-fired plants to meet the level of carbon capture required by the power plant rule and the time required to build even intermittent renewables or low-capacity turbines, Buckeye expects reliability issues and significantly higher electric rates for its consumers if the power plant rule goes into effect.