'That’s what happens when a big plant shuts down in a small town.' Nearly half the nation’s coal plants have been shuttered in the past decade. That profound shift has moved the U.S. toward cleaner forms of energy but left some communities reeling.
An overgrown sign outside the shuttered Killen Station power plant in Manchester, Ohio.
More coal plant capacity disappeared during Trump’s first two years in office than during President Barack Obama’s entire first term, and the closures are set to continue in 2019 and beyond. But long before that happened, local officials and union workers in Adams County scrambled to salvage them. Ty Pell, president of the county commissioners, traveled to the state capital, as well as to Washington, to seek help from Ohio’s elected officials and from Vice President Pence.
In the months since last year’s closures, workers fled for jobs in Wyoming, Florida, Washington, Idaho, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon and elsewhere. The local school system has seen enrollment plunge and has cut positions to make up for budget shortfalls. “It’s been the worst year,” said Kirschner, who worked at the Killen Station for 37 years. “That plant had been my whole life.”
Last year’s coal plant retirements were the second-largest ever in terms of capacity. Companies have announced that they intend to close at least 10 more coal plants by the end of this year and many more by 2030.Natural gas for years has offered a cleaner, cheaper alternative to coal. Renewable energy from wind and solar is more affordable than ever.
AEP, which owned a portion of the Stuart plant, has shaved coal usage from about 70 percent of its power generation in 2005 to 47 percent today. And it plans to idle two units at a Conesville, Ohio, plant in May and another unit there in 2020. AES, through its Dayton Power & Light subsidiary, agreed when it shut down the southern Ohio plants to spend $2 million on workforce development and job training in the area. Initially, according to the Sierra Club, the plants’ owners also agreed to develop at least 300 megawatts of solar and wind projects in Ohio, but that plan did not materialize.
County leaders trimmed the budget by 15 percent in 2017 and another 5 percent in 2018. Ty Pell worries about the shrinking tax base, and no one has much appetite for asking local residents to make up the shortfall. “Obviously, you can only cut so many staff,” said schools Superintendent Brian Rau, who said enrollment has dropped more than 10 percent. “There’s a few more cuts I could make, but it sure wouldn’t be pleasant.”
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