For Immediate Release
November 17, 2022
Washington, D.C. – America’s Power president and CEO Michelle Bloodworth issued the following statement in response to the release of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2022 – 2023 Winter Reliability Assessment:
“Today, NERC issued a warning about the risk of power outages this winter in certain parts of the country. One of the reasons for this risk is the closure of coal power plants. Although NERC has issued similar warnings before, coal plant closures have not stopped. Almost 27,000 MW of coal-fired generation in 24 states are expected to retire this year and next year. More than half the coal fleet has announced plans to retire by 2030. “We commend NERC for its work, but warnings are not enough. NERC, grid operators, utility commissioners, and FERC must take steps to stop these closures until there is certainty that coal plants will be replaced with electricity sources that are dependable. For example, coal power plants, which have on-site coal stockpiles, are six times more dependable than wind farms, which depend on the weather. We need to pause coal plant closures until NERC assures us that the electricity grid is as reliable as it needs to be to withstand extreme weather during both winter and summer.”
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America’s Power is a partnership of industries involved in producing electricity from coal.