Utility Company To Buy Coal Plant Just To Shut It Down

State utility Florida Power and Light (FPL) wants to buy an old coal plant in Florida just to shut it down, a move that it says would prevent nearly 1 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year.

FPL filed a petition with the state’s Public Service Commission last week to acquire the Cedar Bay Generating Plant in Jacksonville, which went into service in 1994. Upon buying the coal plant, FPL plans to immediately reduce the plant’s operations by 90 percent, and then phase it out of service completely over the next two to three years.

The reason it’s doing this, FPL has said, is simple: the plant is outdated, and shutting it down will save customers money — $70 million a year to be exact, according to the utility.

Some environmental groups praised the utility’s move. The Nature Conservancy said buying and shuttering the coal plant was an “innovative approach” in a statement for FPL, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) also issued a statement in support of FPL’s plan.

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