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After more than half a century of generating electricity, two coal-fired units at PPL’s Martins Creek power plant in Northampton County, Pa., shut down permanently on Friday night (9/14).

“Built during the economic boom after World War II, these units have reliably produced electricity for the region’s homes and businesses for more than 50 years,” said Dennis J. Murphy, vice president and chief operating officer for Eastern Fossil and Hydro in PPL Generation.

When they were built in the 1950s, they were PPL’s largest generating units, each capable of producing 150 megawatts. When shut down for the last time, they were PPL’s smallest coal-fired generators but still generated enough power to supply about 240,000 homes a year.

Their retirement is part of a voluntary agreement reached in 2003 between PPL and environmental agencies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.

PPL is donating 70 percent of the units’ sulfur dioxide emission allowances and 70 percent of the nitrogen oxides emission allowances and emission reduction credits to the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. The allowances will not be sold or transferred to other generating units. Fossil fuel power plants receive emission allowances from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under provisions of the Clean Air Act.

Another environmental benefit of the shutdown will be an annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of about 1 million tons.

After the coal-fired generating units are retired, PPL also will be closing a coal ash disposal basin that was repaired after a major release of water and ash in August 2005.

Detailed studies conducted since that release have found no evidence of short-term or long-term adverse effects on plant and animal life in the nearby Delaware River, and no adverse effects on human health or recreation. The conclusions are undergoing review by state and federal environmental agencies.

Murphy said PPL will be preparing a closure plan for the ash basin and will present that plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. After approval of the plan, PPL will reclaim the land so that it may be used for other purposes in the future.
 
The Martins Creek power plant is located on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, about 10 miles north of Easton, Pa. PPL operates two other generating units there, which can run on natural gas or oil. Adjacent to the Martins Creek plant is PPL’s newest generating facility, Lower Mount Bethel Energy, with advanced environmental controls that make it one of the cleanest natural gas power plants in the country.

“PPL continues to meet the region’s growing need for electricity in environmentally responsible ways,” Murphy said. “For example, we are investing about $1.5 billion in environmental controls that will reduce emissions from our other coal-fired plants in Pennsylvania, and we will spend at least $100 million over the next five years to develop renewable energy projects.”

PPL has developed landfill methane and solar energy projects in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and purchases 50 megawatts of electricity generated by wind energy projects in Pennsylvania.

PPL will continue to operate the 215-acre environmental preserve at Martins Creek, which includes wooded hiking trails, wildflower fields, a boat launch and a picnic pavilion. PPL also will continue to schedule free public educational programs at Martins Creek on energy, nature and the environment.

PPL Corporation, headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls more than 11,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to about 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom.