Under the agreement, which awaits court approval, units 1 and 2 would be shut down by July 1, 2022, with the owners being released from liability for any violations.
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A consent decree detailing the partial shutdown of the 2,100-megawatt plant by 2022 was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Montana. He said the state was left out of discussions over Colstrip’s future that took place among attorneys involved in a 2013 lawsuit from the Sierra Club and Montana Environmental Information Center. “Those markets are demanding cleaner energy and we have the ability to provide them with a 21st Century energy source”.
Talen Montana is an affiliate of Talen Energy (NYSE: TLN).
Cheap natural gas has been making Colstrip’s older units less profitable, PSE said in its announcement, so the utility opted to settle a pollution lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club in return for closing the units.
Puget Sound Energy of Bellevue, Washington said low natural gas prices have made the plant less economic, and without the settlement Colstrip could have been forced to purchase costly pollution controls.
Talen, which operates Colstrip, is in the process of exiting the Montana market, though it has not yet publicly announced plans for its ownership share. No replacement operator has been identified.
“This agreement creates a clear timeline for closure of the two oldest coal-fired plants in Montana that supply electricity to customers in King County. The task before us is large but achievable: we will protect the people of Colstrip and their families, keep energy flowing out of Colstrip, and harness the energy jobs of the future, without propping up out-of-state corporations with taxpayer resources”.
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PSE expressed its desire to continue operations at the remaining units. “There’s nothing about the workers, nothing about the community”, Bullock said. “We have been a part of the community for four decades and we will continue to be there for many years to come”, she said.
