Colstrip owner's losses mount as hunt for cheaper coal continues
With two of its four units shutting down this year, Colstrip Power Plant is still struggling to find cheap coal and retain employees, plant operator Talen Energy told Montana lawmakers this week.
Talen Montana President Dale Lebsack said his company continues to lose money on Colstrip Units 1 and 2. In June, the company abruptly announced it would close 1 and 2 this December, three years ahead of schedule. The announcement to shutter the units came after four months of Colstrip talks at the Montana Legislature, during which there was no mention of the units closing earlier than 2022. Lebsack said Talen has been transparent about Colstrip’s struggles.
“We’ve been honest and upfront about our challenges over the course of the last few years. We’ve communicated repeatedly that we’re losing quite a bit of money on units 1 and 2,” Lebsack told the Legislature’s Montana Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee. The meeting occurred July 29. “And as operator, we’ve been working tirelessly to try to remedy that situation. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unsuccessful in making units 1 and 2 economically viable.”
The power plant’s six owners, Talen, NorthWestern Energy. Puget Sound Energy, Portland General Electric, Avista Corp and PacifiCorp had agreed in 2016 to close the units no later than 2022 in order to settle an air pollution lawsuit. All 6 owners signed the agreement to retire Units 1 and 2. It was done to protect Units 3 and 4 from further litigation, although only Talen and Puget have ownership shares in 1 and 2. But market competition from cheap natural gas and renewable energy sources wore on the units’ profitability.
Read more: https://trib.com/business/energy/colstrip-owner-s-losses-mount-as-hunt-for-cheaper-coal/article_d4404fa4-0b17-5267-b868-12caf3179c7d.html
(Casper Star Tribune)