PSEG to close two coal-fired power plants in New Jersey

• 8 years ago (2016-10-06)
• David Flin

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PSEG has announced that it will be closing the 632 MW Hudson Generation Station in Jersey City, and the 620 MW Mercer Generation Station in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, USA. The two coal-fired power plants will be closed on 1 June, 2017.

Bill Levis, President and Chief Operating Officer of PSEG Power, said: “The sustained low prices of natural gas have put economic pressure on those plants for some time. We could not justify the significant investment required to upgrade these plants to meet the new reliability standards. The plants have been infrequently called on to run, and neither plant cleared the last two PJM capacity auctions. The plants’ capacity payments have been critical to their profitability and PSEG’s ability to continue to invest in modernising them.”

PSEG said that it was committed to meeting the long-term energy needs of New Jersey, and is currently investing over $600 million in a new CCGT plant in Sewaren, New Jersey, as well as new plants in Maryland and Connecticut. Currently, PSEG Power owns nearly 4000 MW of gas-fired power capacity in New Jersey, and 3740 MW of nuclear capacity, of which 2500 MW are in New Jersey.

With the closure of the coal plants, New Jersey’s electricity supply will be split roughly evenly between nuclear and gas, with a small but growing amount of renewable energy. Levis said: “We continue to believe that it is unwise for New Jersey to become overly dependent on one source of energy. With the continued low cost of natural gas, it is important that we recognise and support the full value of non-carbon, non-polluting nuclear and renewable energy.”