The company said it will retire the coal-fired units with a total capacity of 862MW at the nearly 60-year-old plant due to a proposed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule.
Under EPA’s recently proposed utility maximum achievable control technology rule, which will be finalised in November, coal-fired plants are required to be installed with emission control technologies by 1 January 2015.
Duke Energy said that the anticipated retirement date is contingent on potential changes to the implementation for the MACT rule and other environmental regulations.
The company also plans to meet electricity demand following the retirement of the coal-fired units through the purchase of power on the competitive wholesale market or the construction/acquisition of natural gas-fired combined-cycle generating assets.
Duke Energy owns 100% of the first five units at the WC Beckjord power station, and jointly owns Unit 6 (37.5%) with American Electric Power (12.5%) and Dayton Power and Light (50%).
