American Electric Power Co. Inc. has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. EPA and several states and environmental groups that will require the company to retire units at coal-fired power plants in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky by 2015, the Sierra Club, one of the parties to the agreement, announced Feb. 25.
The units are Tanners Creek 4 in Dearborn County, Ind., with a nameplate capacity of 579.7 MW; Muskingum River 5 in Morgan County, Ohio, at 615.2 MW; and Big Sandy 2 in Lawrence County, Ky., at 816.3 MW. All capacities are according to SNL's database.
The utility, through its
Kentucky Power Co. subsidiary, had already announced the possibility of
closing the Big Sandy plant, which also includes a 280.5-MW unit. In addition, AEP has said it will
retire the other three units at Tanners Creek and the other four at Muskingum River. Those plants are operated by subsidiaries
Indiana Michigan Power Co. and
Ohio Power Co., respectively.
The settlement represents a "major victory," the Sierra Club said. "This agreement is only the latest sign of progress as our country continues to transition away from dirty, dangerous and expensive coal-fired power plants," Jodi Perras, Indiana campaign representative for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, said in a
statement.