DOE Orders Another Zombie Fossil Fuel Plant to Stay Online
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued an order Friday to mandate that a dirty and outdated power plant outside of Philadelphia continue operating beyond its planned closure. The Eddystone power plant, located between Philadelphia International Airport and the city of Chester, had been slated to close today.
This follows a similar order last week that mandated a large coal plant in Michigan stay online despite imminent closure. The owners of both plants made decisions based on economics and lower cost power replacements, which had been approved by state and regional grid regulators.
Additional similar federal actions are expected in response to a Trump administration executive order promoting fossil fuels, despite significant health and consumer cost impacts.
Following is a statement from Kit Kennedy, power sector managing director at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“The Department of Energy’s move to keep these zombie plants online will have significant public health impacts and increase electricity costs for people in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“These orders are about a power grab—not a power emergency. These dirty and expensive fossil plants were slated to close because they could not compete with cheaper, cleaner alternatives."
More background on the Trump administration’s efforts to bring back uneconomic fossil fuel-fired generation here.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).