National

2018 was the second-highest year for retirements of coal-fired power plants in the U.S. In the wake of plant closures, some communities are converting these facilities into production sites for lower-carbon energy sources.

Why it matters: Coal-fired plants have long been seen as economic boons for rural counties, despite the harmful effects of their pollution on local residents. Converting them can both mitigate job losses and help meet energy demands more sustainably.

Coal-fired electricity generation initially created jobs and allowed for modest improvements in health and quality of life, largely due to increased electricity access, according to a study from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Montreal.

However, the plants' long-term effects include elevated air pollution, higher infant mortality rates and lower housing values.

A coal-fired plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was recently turned into a 17,000-panel solar farm. Partnerships with the city and state provide young employees with job retraining and older employees with early access to retirement savings and pensions.

Indianapolis Power & Light Co. has decommissioned four coal-powered units in Martinsville, Indiana, and established a natural gas plant in their place. In addition to cutting key emissions by 98%, this new plant brought 1,000 construction jobs and 33 permanent positions to the Martinsville community.

Between the lines: These facility conversions could attract younger workers and their families, which would bolster school attendance, support local businesses and preserve many of the plants' original benefits, but without the pollution.

What we're watching: Successful conversion projects will need to continue focusing on reskilling plant employees to avoid disrupting local economies.

Karen Clay is a professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College and Tepper School of Business.

Converting coal-fired plants can save jobs and provide cleaner energy

Though once seen as economic pillars, the plants can cause long-term harms.

a coal-fired power plant giving off smoke

A coal-fired power plant outside Delta, Utah. Photo: George Frey/Getty Images

Energy

Coal

Expert Voices

2018 was the second-highest year for retirements of coal-fired power plants in the U.S. In the wake of plant closures, some communities are converting these facilities into production sites for lower-carbon energy sources.Why it matters: Coal-fired plants have long been seen as economic boons for rural counties, despite the harmful effects of their pollution on local residents. Converting them can both mitigate job losses and help meet energy demands more sustainably.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Hindering the expansion of natural gas pipelines could drive a reversion to dirtier energy sources like coal and heating oil, especially when sufficient infrastructure for renewable energy is not yet in place.

Why it matters: Greater demands on the power grid have led to more natural gas pipelines in the Northeastern U.S., but several proposed pipelines have been canceled or delayed due to public pushback. Inhibiting their construction could inadvertently produce greater emissions and lead to more air pollution.

What’s happening: Record-breaking cold winter temperatures in the Northeast have led to above-average heating and electricity demand.

While renewables’ share of energy generation has begun to replace natural gas in warmer, sunnier states like California, the Northeast’s colder, darker weather does less to facilitate such a transition.

The development and extension of several Northeastern pipelines, such as the National Fuel Northern Access Pipeline and the Constitution Pipeline, have been delayed for years.

Background: Natural gas is considered a transition fuel — it is cleaner than coal and produces fewer air contaminants than heating oil.

Yes, but: It does have its own negative environmental impacts, such as methane leakage, and pipelines are often associated with dangerous explosions. 

Where it stands: In 2017, the Northeast Census region consumed more than 3 billion gallons of heating oil to combat the cold, accounting for 85% of the fuel’s total U.S. sales. 

Replacing heating oil with natural gas would bring near-term gains in air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Yet halting pipeline expansion could slow that transition, potentially increasing reliance on oil and coal — which have fallen from 19% and 14% of the Northeast’s electricity generation to just 1%. Shutdowns of carbon-free nuclear plants across the region have compounded the challenge.

What’s needed: The transition from pipeline-based natural gas energy generation will require more investment in renewable energy infrastructure and policies like those New York has used to significantly boost solar capacity.

Researchers have found that trying to decarbonize the electric grid without sufficient energy storage can increase carbon emissions, but developments in utility-scale battery technology could help.

Stalled gas pipelines could push power grids back to oil and coal

High electricity demand makes the problem particularly acute in the Northeast.

pipeline construction site near a suburban home

Construction of a Spectra Energy pipeline in Peekskill, N.Y., in Aug. 2016. Photo: Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Pipeline transport

Hindering the expansion of natural gas pipelines could drive a reversion to dirtier energy sources like coal and heating oil, especially when sufficient infrastructure for renewable energy is not yet in place.Why it matters: Greater demands on the power grid have led to more <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="natural gas pipelines in the Northeastern U.S." data-vars-click-url="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=36272" data-vars-content-id="ac9e7141-31de-45c4-b0b4-44aad1ac3061" data-vars-headline="Stalled gas pipelines could push power grids back to oil and coal" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=36272" target="_blank">natural gas pipelines in the Northeastern U.S.</a>, but several proposed pipelines have been <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="canceled or delayed" data-vars-click-url="https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/hunterdon-county/2019/08/10/penneast-environmentalists-step-up-opposition-natural-gas-pipeline/1966075001/" data-vars-content-id="ac9e7141-31de-45c4-b0b4-44aad1ac3061" data-vars-headline="Stalled gas pipelines could push power grids back to oil and coal" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/hunterdon-county/2019/08/10/penneast-environmentalists-step-up-opposition-natural-gas-pipeline/1966075001/" target="_blank">canceled or delayed</a> due to public pushback. Inhibiting their construction could inadvertently produce greater emissions and lead to more air pollution.

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Karen Clay

Stories

Stalled gas pipelines could push power grids back to oil and coal

Converting coal-fired plants can save jobs and provide cleaner energy