In the News

A coal-burning power plant in Giles County that has spewed carbon emissions for years faces a shutdown to comply with clean-air requirements -- and consumers are facing the possibility of higher electric bills.

If the Glen Lyn plant is forced to close by the end of 2014, Appalachian Power Co. customers could pay 10 percent to 15 percent more on their monthly bills as a result of that and other shutdowns, company spokesman Todd Burns said.

Appalachian's parent company, American Electric Power, said Thursday that the plant is among 11 in seven states that would have to be retired or modified to meet proposed regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA unveiled the regulations in March, saying the first-ever national limits on coal-fired power plants would reduce air pollution enough to save 17,000 lives a year. The proposed rules have yet to take effect.

AEP is asking the government for more time to comply, which may mean less of an impact on rates.

"Our hope is that the EPA will respond and allow additional time to implement these things, and at that point we will have a more detailed plan that has less of an impact than what we are talking about today," Burns said.

The Glen Lyn plant, a towering complex easily seen from the U.S. 460 bridge across the New River near the West Virginia line, is 92 years old and nearing the end of its life span.

A second Virginia facility, the Clinch River Plant in Russell County, would be partially shut down under AEP's plan, with two of its three units retrofitted to burn natural gas instead of coal.

The closings were bemoaned by those who say EPA regulation is causing more economic harm than environmental good, yet hailed by clean-air advocates.

"This is truly good news and could eventually have a major impact on the Roanoke region's carbon footprint, depending on the power sources used to replace it," Diana Christopulos, president of the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition, said of the Glen Lyn closing.

The plant released about 217,000 pounds of toxins -- mostly hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, with smaller amounts of lead and mercury compounds -- in 2009, according to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

An annual listing by the department ranked the facility 35th in the state for toxic emissions.

AEP said it has already reduced pollution from its power plants by 80 percent in response to earlier government mandates. The latest rules would cost from $6 billion to $8 billion in capital investment over the next decade, the company said.

"When they spend billions of dollars, we're going to pay every penny of that" in higher electricity bills, said U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.

"It's a huge cost, and it's all because of the EPA."

Should Appalachian customers end up paying for the latest environmental regulations, it will come on top of rates that have risen 66 percent in six years.

Appalachian currently has a package of four rate filings pending before the State Corporation Commission, with a ruling expected in the fall. Combined, they would generate $115 million in new revenue for the company and, if approved, would mean a 9.6 percent increase in monthly bills starting in 2012 for the company's 520,000 customers in Virginia.

The company said most of the requested increase is related to compliance with previous EPA mandates, which have cost more than $2 billion since mid-decade to install pollution controls at key generating plants.

With the high price comes a heavy dependence on coal.

Eighty-four percent of the electricity generated by AEP to supply Appalachian customers in Virginia is from coal-fired power plants, a key source of greenhouse gases.

Systemwide, AEP gets 65 percent of its power from coal -- a figure that is expected to drop to 57 percent by the end of the decade.

The Glen Lyn plant, which Appalachian has been using only during peak demand in the winter and summer, had been slated to close in 2018.

About 44 people currently work there, and it's unclear how many might find jobs elsewhere with Appalachian if the closure comes four years earlier to meet the EPA requirements, Burns said.

Because Appalachian has not released details on the extent of the closure or whether the plant would be disassembled, Giles County Administrator Chris McKlarney said it would be difficult to assess the impact on local tax revenue.

Appalachian currently pays about $600,000 a year to the county in taxes, and more than $200,000 to the town of Glen Lyn.

Across AEP's service area, about 600 power plant jobs will be lost under the plan the company announced Thursday. And some regions that rely the most on coal, such as the Midwest, could see rates increase by up to 35 percent.

"The sudden increase in electricity rates and impacts on state economies will be significant at a time when people and states are still struggling," AEP Chief Executive Michael Morris said in a statement.