Existing U.S. Coal Plants

This article is part of the Coal Issues portal on SourceWatch, a project of CoalSwarm and the Center for Media and Democracy. See here for help on adding material to CoalSwarm.

This article is part of the CoalSwarm coverage of coal plants

Sub-articles:

Existing U.S. coal plants Proposed U.S. coal plants Proposed coal plants (international) Coal plant retirements Campus coal plants Coal plants near residential areas Former coal plants Proposed synfuels plants (U.S.)

To see a nationwide list of over 600 coal plants in the United States, click here. To see a listing of coal plants in a particular state, click on the map:

This page provides information on existing U.S. coal-fired power plants. For a list of proposed coal plants and coal plants that are under construction, click here.

Overview

The decline of U.S. coal 2012-2016.

For the twelve months ending in June 2012, United States' coal plants produced 1,563,298 gigawatt hours of electricity, or 38.4 percent of total U.S. electricity production. At the peak year of coal's contribution to U.S. power production, 1988, coal produced 57.0% of U.S. power. Coal's share in power production has fallen due to major increases in production from natural gas and smaller increases from nuclear and wind.

In 2009, the Energy Information Administration listed 594 coal-fired power plants in the U.S., down from 645 coal-fired power plants in 2001. Of these 594 plants, 341 were owned by electric utilities, 100 by independent power producers, and the remainder by industrial and commercial producers of combined heat and power. In 2009, the 594 U.S. coal plants included a total of 1,436 generating units (many plants have multiple units), and a total of 338,723 MW (megawatts) of nameplate production capacity, or 314,294 MW of net summer capacity.

While the size of the coal fleet steadily shrank from 2001 to 2009, average capacity factor (the ratio of the actual output of a plant to the theoretical maximum output if the plant ran continuously) increased from 69.2 percent in 2001 to 73.6 percent in 2007, before falling to 63.8 percent in 2009.

For more information on coal plant capacity and generation, see Coal-fired power plant capacity and generation.

U.S. Coal-Fired Power Production in the Global Context

In 2008, the U.S. produced approximately 2,133,000 GWh (gigawatt hours) of electricity from coal (one GWh is the amount of power produced by a 1,000 MW power plant running for one hour), accounting for about a quarter of the world's coal-fired electricity:

Country	2008 Coal Power Prod.	% of World Total
China	2,733,000 GWh	33.1%
U.S.A.	2,133,000 GWh	25.8%
India	569,000 GWh	6.9%
Germany	291,000 GWh	3.5%
Japan	288,000 GWh	3.5%
South Africa	241,000 GWh	2.9%
Australia	198,000 GWh	2.4%
Russia	197,000 GWh	2.4%
Korea	192,000 GWh	2.3%
Poland	143,000 GWh	1.7%
All Other Countries	1,278,000 GWh	15.6%
World Total	8,263,000 GWh	100%

The following table represents the world's top coal producers in 2011 by metric tonne (MT). In 2011 the United States produced 1,004 metric tonnes of coal.

Country	2011 Coal Prod.	% of World Total
China	3,576 MT	45.9%
U.S.A.	1,004 MT	12.9%
India	586 MT	7.5%
Australia	414 MT	5.3%
Russia	334 MT	4.3%
South Africa	253 MT	3.3%
Germany	189 MT	2.4%
Poland	139 MT	1.8%
Korea	117 MT	1.5%
All Other Countries	795 MT	10.3%
World Total	7,783 MT	100%

In 2004, U.S. coal-fired power plants produced 2,154.6 million tons of CO₂ – 35.8% of total U.S. CO₂ emissions, and 8.0% of total world CO₂ emissions. To put this in perspective, U.S. coal-fired power plants produced more CO₂ in 2004 than was emitted by all sources in all of Africa, South America, and Central America combined.

Stagnant Capacity, Varying Output

From 1990 to 2009, the net capacity of the U.S. coal-fired power plant fleet remained virtually unchanged, increasing by only 7 Gigawatts (MW) or 2.5% during the entire 17-year period. The output of these plants increased from 1990 to 2007 before falling in 2009. This means that although the existing fleet was not growing in size, plants were being run more intensively. This is reflected in the average capacity factor of the fleet, which rose from 59% to 74% from 1990 to 2007, then fell to 64% in 2009. (Capacity factor refers to the ratio of the actual output of a plant to the theoretical maximum output if the plant ran continuously.)

Coal-fired power plant capacity and generation

Year	Net Summer Capacity (Gigawatts)	Generation (thousand Gigawatt hours)	Capacity Factor
1950	N/A	154.5	N/A
1960	N/A	403.1	N/A
1970	N/A	704.4	N/A
1980	N/A	1,161.6	N/A
1990	307.4	1,594.0	59%
2000	315.1	1,966.3	71%
2005	313.4	2,012.9	73%
2007	312.7	2,016.5	74%
2009	314.4	1,764.5	64%

State-by-State Capacity and Output

Here's a sortable table of U.S. states, ranked by the total amount of electricity each state produced from coal in 2005. To sort the table, click on a column header.

Rank	State	# of Plants	Total Capacity (MW)	2005 Power Prod. (GWh)
1	Texas	20	21,238	148,759
2	Ohio	35	23,823	137,457
3	Indiana	31	21,551	123,985
4	Pennsylvania	40	20,475	122,093
5	Illinois	32	17,565	92,772
6	Kentucky	21	16,510	92,613
7	West Virginia	19	15,372	91,601
8	Georgia	16	14,594	87,624
9	North Carolina	25	13,279	78,854
10	Missouri	24	11,810	77,714
11	Michigan	33	12,891	71,871
12	Alabama	11	12,684	70,144
13	Florida	15	11,382	66,378
14	Tennessee	13	10,290	59,264
15	Wyoming	10	6,168	43,421
16	Wisconsin	28	7,116	41,675
17	Arizona	7	5,861	40,730
18	South Carolina	16	6,469	40,545
19	Oklahoma	7	5,720	36,446
20	Utah	8	5,080	36,008
21	Colorado	15	5,309	35,671
22	Virginia	22	6,208	35,099
23	Iowa	28	6,506	34,729
24	Kansas	8	5,472	34,595
25	Minnesota	21	5,670	34,336
26	New Mexico	4	4,382	29,990
27	North Dakota	10	4,246	29,813
28	Maryland	9	5,236	29,782
29	Arkansas	3	3,958	23,356
30	Louisiana	4	3,764	23,190
31	New York	18	4,273	22,018
32	Nebraska	8	3,194	20,175
33	Nevada	3	2,769	18,412
34	Montana	4	2,536	17,844
35	Mississippi	5	2,696	16,661
36	Massachusetts	6	1,776	12,095
37	New Jersey	7	2,237	12,090
38	Washington	1	1,460	10,483
39	Delaware	4	1,082	5,185
40	New Hampshire	2	609	4,097
41	Connecticut	2	614	3,995
42	Oregon	1	601	3,588
43	California	8	439	3,024
44	South Dakota	2	481	2,999
45	Hawaii	1	203	1,548
46	Maine	1	103	754
47	Alaska	5	118	650
48	Idaho	2	19	51
49	Rhode Island	0	0	0
50	Vermont	0	0	0

The median family income of the top 15 coal-producing states was $44,922 in 2006 ($3,529 below the U.S. median); the median family income of the bottom 15 coal-producing states was $52,833 ($4,382 above the U.S. median).

Here's a breakdown of existing U.S. coal-fired generating units by size:

Unit Size	# of Units	Total Capacity
0-10 MW	37	192 MW
10-20 MW	25	345 MW
20-50 MW	75	2,427 MW
50-100 MW	73	5,269 MW
100-250 MW	85	14,000 MW
250-500 MW	97	34,396 MW
500-750 MW	69	42,655 MW
750-1,000 MW	28	23,612 MW
1,000-1,500 MW	59	72,366 MW
1,500-2,000 MW	38	66,657 MW
Over 2,000 MW	29	73,920 MW

Thus, the 29 plants that are larger than 2,000 MW have a greater generating capacity than the 392 plants that are smaller than 500 MW.

Here's a breakdown of existing U.S. coal-fired generating units (not overall plants) by age:

Years Built	# of Units	Total Capacity (MW)
2005-2009	21	6,785
2000-2004	13	1,382
1995-1999	24	4,372
1990-1994	67	8,638
1985-1989	102	23,734
1980-1984	117	56,105
1975-1979	125	55,879
1970-1974	137	66,466
1965-1969	158	41,656
1960-1964	157	25,310
1955-1959	209	28,883
1950-1954	213	17,518
1940-1949	93	2,583
1930-1939	20	132
1920-1929	10	69
Total	1,466	339,509

The median existing U.S. coal-fired generating station was built in January 1966.

Plant retirements and conversions

The following sortable table lists recent and upcoming (including probable) coal plant retirements and conversions in the United States. In some cases, plants are being converted to use biomass or natural gas. To sort the table by a column, click on the column header. Clicking a second time on the header will reverse the order of the sort.

For plant-by-plant details, see Coal plant retirements.

State	Plant	Operator	Boiler or Unit	Year Built	Capacity (MW)	Retirement Year	Notes
AK	Chena Power Plant	Aurora Energy LLC	3	1952	2	2009
AL	Gadsden Steam Plant	Southern Company	1, 2	1949, 1949	69, 69	2011, 2011	Gas and coal
AL	Gaston Steam Plant	Alabama Power	1, 2, 3, 4	1960, 1960, 1961, 1962	272, 272, 272, 245	2015	Gas
AL	Widows Creek Fossil Plant	Tennessee Valley Authority	1 - 6	1952 - 1954	6 x 141	2 in 2013, 2 in 2014, 2 in 2015
CA	Mt. Poso Cogeneration Plant	Red Hawk Energy	1	1989	62	2011	biomass
CA	Port of Stockton District Energy Facility	NextEra Energy Resources	1	1987	54	2013	biomass
CO	Arapahoe Station	Public Service Company of Colorado	3, 4	1951, 1955	46, 112	2012
CO	Cameo Station	Public Service Company of Colorado	1, 2	1957, 1960	25, 50	2010
CO	Cherokee Station	Public Service Company of Colorado	1, 2, 3, 4	1957, 1959, 1962, 1968	125, 125, 170, 381	2017, 2017, 2022, 2022
CO	Clark Station	Black Hills Energy	1, 2	1955, 1959	18.7, 25	2012
CO	Valmont Station	Public Service Company of Colorado	5	1964	192	2017
CT	AES Thames Generation Plant	AES	1	1989	214	2011
DC	Capitol Power Plant	U.S federal government		1910		2009	natural gas
DE	Edge Moor Power Plant	Calpine Corporation	3, 4, 5, 10	1954, 1966, 1973, 1963	75, 177, 446, 35	2010	gas
DE	Indian River Power Station	NRG Energy	1, 2, 3	1957, 1959, 1970	82, 82, 177	2010
FL	Crystal River Energy Complex	Progress Energy	1, 2	1966, 1969	440, 524	2020
GA	Harllee Branch Generating Plant	Georgia Power (Southern Company)	1, 2	1965, 1967	299, 359	2013
GA	Kraft Plant	Southern Company (Georgia Power)	1, 2, 3	1958, 1961, 1965	50, 54, 104	2016
GA	McDonough Steam Generating Plant	Southern Company (Georgia Power)	1, 2	1963, 164	299, 299	unknown
GA	Mitchell Plant	Southern Company (Georgia Power)	1	1964	163	unknown
GA	Yates Steam Generating Plant	Southern Company (Georgia Power)	1, 2, 3, 4	1950, 1950, 1952, 1957, 1958	123, 123, 123, 156, 156	2015
IA	Council Bluffs Energy Center	MidAmerican Energy	1, 2	1954, 1958	49, 82	2016
IA	Dubuque Generating Station	Interstate Power and Light (Alliant)	2	1929	15	2010
IA	George Neal Station North	MidAmerican Energy	1, 2	1964, 1972	147, 349	2016
IA	Lansing Power Station	Alliant Energy	2, 3	1949, 1957	12, 38	2010
IA	Milton Kapp Generating Station	Alliant Energy	1	1967	218	2010
IA	Pella Municipal Power Plant	Pella Municipal Power & Light	1, 2	1964, 1972	11.5, 26.5	2012
IA	Prairie Creek Generating Station	Interstate Power and Light (Alliant)	2	1951	23	2010
IA	Riverside Generating Station (Iowa)	MidAmerican Energy	1, 2	1949, 1961	5, 136	2016
IA	Sixth Street Generating Station	Interstate Power and Light (Alliant)	1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8	1921, 1930, 1942, 1945, 1945, 1950	10, 6, 15, 10, 15, 29	2010
IA	Sutherland Generating Station	Interstate Power and Light (Alliant)	2	1955	38	2010
IL	Crawford Generating Station	Midwest Generation	1, 2	1958, 1961	239, 358	2014
IL	Fisk Generating Station	Midwest Generation	1	1968	374	2012
IL	Hutsonville Power Station	Ameren	1, 2	1953, 1954	75, 75	2011
IL	Lakeside Station	City Water, Light and Power	6, 7	1961, 1965	38, 38	2009
IL	Meredosia Power Station	Ameren	1, 2, 3	1948, 1949, 1960	58, 58, 239	2011
IL	Pearl Station	Prairie Power	1	1967	22	2013	biomass
IL	University of Illinois Abbott Power Plant	University of Illinois	T6, T7, T10, T11, T12	195, 1962, 2004, 2004, 2004	8, 8, 7, 13, 13	2017
IL	Vermilion Power Station	Dynegy	1, 2	1955, 156	74, 109	2011
IL	Waukegan Generating Station	Midwest Generation	6	1952	121	2007
IL	Will County Generating Station	Midwest Generation	1, 2	1955	188, 184	2010
IN	Dean Mitchell Generating Station	Northern Indiana Public Service Co	4, 5, 6, 11	1956, 1959, 1959, 1970	138, 128, 128, 128	2012
IN	Eagle Valley Station	AES	3, 4, 5, 6	1951, 1953, 1953, 1956	50, 69, 69, 114	2017	Gas
IN	Edwardsport Generating Station	Duke Energy	7, 8	1949, 1951	40, 69	2011
IN	Frank Ratts Generating Station	Hoosier Energy	1, 2	1970, 1970	117, 117	2015
IN	Gallagher Generating Station	Duke Energy	1, 3	1959, 1960	150, 150	2012
IN	Harding Street Station	AES	5, 6	1958, 1961	114, 114	2017	Gas
IN	Perry K Steam Plant	Citizens Energy Group	1, 2	1925, 1938	15, 5	2014	Gas
IN	State Line Plant	Dominion	1, 2, 3, 4	1955, 1955, 1962, 1962	100, 125, 180, 209	2012-2014
IN	Tanners Creek Plant	American Electric Power	1, 2, 3	1951, 1952, 1954	153, 153, 215	2014
IN	Wabash River Generating Station	Duke Energy	2, 3, 5	1953, 1954, 1956	112	2009
IN	Whitewater Valley Generating Station	Richmond Power & Light	1, 2	1955, 1973	33, 61	2013	waste gasification
KY	Big Sandy Plant	American Electric Power	1, 2	163, 1969	218, 816	2014
KY	Cane Run Station	Louisville Gas and Electric Company	1, 2, 3	1962, 1966, 1972	163, 209, 272	2016
KY	Green River Generating Station	Kentucky Utilities Company	1, 2	1954, 1959	75, 114	2016
KY	Henderson Station One	Henderson City Utility Commission	1, 2	1956, 1968	11.5, 32.3	2008
KY	Shawnee Fossil Plant	Tennessee Valley Authority	10	1956	175	2015
KY	Tyrone Generating Station	Kentucky Utilities Company	1	1953	75	2016
MA	Salem Harbor Station	Dominion	1, 2, 3	1952, 1952, 1958	82	2014
MA	Somerset Power Generating Station	NRG Energy	1, 2	1951, 1959	74, 100	2010
MD	R. Paul Smith Power Station	Allegheny Energy	1, 2	1947, 1958	35, 75	2012
MI	Cobb Generating Plant	Consumers Energy	2 units	unspecified	unspecified	2014
MI	Karn Weadock Generating Complex	Consumers Energy	2 units	unspecified	unspecified	2014
MI	Marysville Power Plant	Detroit Edison	7, 8	1943, 1947	75, 75	2011
MI	S.D. Warren Muskegon Power Plant	Sappi	1, 2, 3	1938, 1968, 1989	3.5, 19.1, 28.3	2009
MI	Whiting Generating Plant	Consumers Energy	1, 2, 3	1952, 1952, 1953	106, 106, 133	2015
MN	Black Dog Generating Station	Northern States Power Company	3, 4	1955, 1960	114, 180	2016
MN	Hoot Lake Plant	Otter Tail Power	1, 2	1956, 1964	54, 75	2020	natural gas
MN	Syl Laskin Energy Center	Minnesota Power	1, 2	1953, 1953	58, 58	2015	natural gas
MN	Taconite Harbor Energy Center	Minnesota Power	3	1967	84	2015
MT	Corette Plant	PPL	1	1968	173	2015	mothball
NC	Buck Steam Station	Duke Energy	3, 4	1941, 1942	80,40	2011
NC	Cape Fear Steam Plant	Progress Energy	5, 6	1956, 1958	141, 188	2013
NC	Cliffside Plant	Duke Energy	1, 2, 3, 4	1940, 1940, 1948, 1948	40, 40, 65, 65	2012
NC	Dan River Steam Station	Duke Energy	1, 2, 3	1949, 1950, 1955	70,70,150	2011, 2012, 2013
NC	Lee Steam Plant	Progress Energy	1, 2, 3	1951, 1952	75, 75, 252	2013
NC	Riverbend Steam Station	Duke Energy	4, 5, 6, 7	1952, 1952, 1954, 1954	100, 100, 133, 133	2015, 2015, 2016, 2017
NC	Sutton Steam Plant	Progress Energy	1, 2, 3	1954, 1955, 1972	113, 113, 447	2014
NC	UNC Chapel Hill Cogen	University of North Carolina	TG3	1991	28	2020	biomass
NC	Weatherspoon Plant	Progress Energy	1, 2, 3	1949, 1950, 1952	46	2017
NJ	Deepwater Generating Station	Pepco Holdings	1	1958	82	2010
NJ	England Generating Station	RC Cape May Holdings	1, 2	1962, 1964	136, 163	2013, 2016	natural gas (unit 2)
NJ	Howard Down Generating Station	Vineland Municipal Electric		1970	25	2010
NM	Four Corners Steam Plant	Arizona Public Service Company	1, 2, 3	1963, 1963, 1964	190, 190, 253	2012
NV	Mohave Generating Station	Southern California Edison	1, 2	1971, 1971	818, 818	2005
NV	Reid Gardner Station	NV Energy	1, 2, 3, 4	1965, 1968, 1976, 1983	114, 114, 114, 295	2020, 2020, 2020, 2023
NY	AES Greenidge Generation Plant	AES	3	1950	50	2009
NY	AES Westover Generation Plant	AES	8	1951	75	2011
NY	Cornell University Central Heating Plant	Cornell University	TG1, TG2	1988, 1988	2, 6	2011
NY	Danskammer Generating Station	Dynegy	3, 4	1959, 1967	147, 239	2012
OH	Ashtabula Plant	FirstEnergy	1	1958	256	2012
OH	Avon Lake Power Plant	GenOn Energy	1, 2	1949, 1970	86, 680	2015
OH	Bay Shore Plant	FirstEnergy	2, 3, 4	1959, 1963, 1968	141, 141, 218	2012
OH	Beckjord Generating Station	Duke Energy	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1969	115, 113, 125, 163, 245, 461	2015
OH	Burger Plant	First Energy	4,5	1955, 1955	156, 156	2010
OH	Conesville Power Plant	American Electric Power	3	1962	165	2012
OH	Eastlake Power Plant	FirstEnergy	1, 2, 3, 4, 5	1953, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1972	123, 123, 123, 208, 680	2012
OH	Hutchings Station	DPL	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6	1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953	69, 69, 69, 69, 69, 69,	2015, 2015, 2015, 2013, 2015, 2015
OH	Lake Shore Plant	FirstEnergy	1	1962	256	2012
OH	Miami Fort Station	Duke Energy	6	1960	163	2015
OH	Muskingum River Plant	American Electric Power	1, 2, 3, 4	1953, 1954, 1957, 1958	220, 220, 238, 238	2014
OH	Niles Plant	GenOn Energy	1, 2	1954, 1954	133, 133	2015
OH	Ohio University Lausche Heating Plant	Ohio University	OUG1	1994	1	2009
OH	Picway Power Plant	American Electric Power	1	1955	106	2014
OH	Richard H. Gorsuch Generating Station	American Municipal Power - Ohio	1 - 4	1988	50, 50, 50, 50	2012
OH	Shelby Municipal Light Plant	American Municipal Power Ohio	1, 2, 3, 4	1948, 1954, 1968, 1973	5, 7, 12.5, 12.5	2012
OK	Northeastern Station	American Electric Power	3, 4	1979, 1980	473, 473	2016, 2026
OR	Boardman Plant	Portland General Electric	1	1980	601	2020
PA	Armstrong Power Station	Allegheny Energy	1, 2	1958, 1959	163, 163	2012
PA	Cromby Generating Station	Exelon	1	1954	188	2011
PA	Eddystone Generating Station	Exelon	1, 2	1960, 1960	354, 354	2011
PA	Elrama Power Plant	GenOn Energy	1, 2, 3, 4	1952, 1953, 1954, 1960	100, 100, 125, 185	2012
PA	Hunlock Power Station	UGI Development Co	3	1959	50	2010
PA	New Castle Plant	GenOn Energy	1, 2, 3	1952, 1958, 1964	98, 114, 136	2015
PA	Penn State West Campus Plant	Penn State	1	1929		2014
PA	Portland Generating Station	GenOn Energy	1, 2	1958, 1962	172, 255	2014
PA	Shawville Generating Station	GenOn Energy	1, 2, 3, 4	1954, 1954, 1959, 1960	125, 125, 188, 188	2015
PA	Sunbury Steam Station	Sunbury Generation	1, 2, 3, 4	1949, 1949, 1951, 1953	75, 90 104, 156	2015
PA	Titus Generating Station	GenOn Energy	1, 2, 3	1951, 1951, 1953	75, 75, 75	2015
SC	Canadys Station	SCE&G	1, 2, 3	1962, 1964, 1967	136, 136, 218	2012, 2017, 2017
SC	McMeekin Station	SCE&G	1, 2	1958, 1958	147, 147	2018, 2018
SC	Robinson Steam Plant	Progress Energy	1	1960	207	2012
SC	Savannah River D-Area Power House	US Department of Energy	HP-1, HP-2	1952, 1952	9, 9	2013
SC	Urquhart Station	SCE&G	3	1955	100	2018
SC	W.S. Lee Steam Station	Duke Energy	1, 2, 3	1951, 1951, 1958	100, 100, 170	2020
SD	Ben French Power Plant	Black Hills Corporation	1	1961	25	2014
TN	John Sevier Fossil Plant	Tennessee Valley Authority	1, 2	1955, 1955	200, 200	2012
TN	Johnsonville Fossil Plant	Tennessee Valley Authority	1-9	1951-159	1486	6 in 2015, 4 in 2017
TX	J.T. Deely Station	CPS Energy	1, 2	1977, 1978	932	2018
TX	Monticello Steam Station	Energy Future Holdings	1, 2	1974, 1975	593, 593	2012
TX	Welsh Power Plant	American Electric Power	2	1980	558	2014
UT	Utah Smelter Power Plant	Rio Tinto	1, 2, 3	1943, 1943, 1946	25, 50, 25	unknown
VA	Altavista Power Station	Dominion	1	1992	80	2012
VA	Bremo Bluff Power Station	Dominion	3, 4	1950, 1958	69, 185	2012
VA	Chesapeake Energy Center	Dominion	1, 2, 3, 4	1953, 1954, 1959, 1962	111, 111, 156, 217	2015, 2015, 2016, 2016
VA	Clinch River Plant	Appalachian Power Company	1, 2, 3	1958, 1958, 1961	185, 185, 185	2014
VA	Glen Lyn Plant	Appalachian Power Company	5, 6	1944, 1957	100, 238	2014
VA	Hopewell Power Station	Dominion	1	1992	71	2012
VA	North Branch Station	Dominion	1	1992	80	2014 or 2015
VA	Potomac River Generating Station	GenOn Energy	1, 2, 3, 4, 5	1949, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1957	92, 92, 110, 110, 110	2012
VA	Southampton Power Station	Dominion	1	1992	71	2012
VA	Yorktown Power Station	Dominion	1, 2	1957, 1959	159, 156	2015, 2022
WA	Centralia Power Plant	TransAlta	1, 2	1972, 1973	730, 730	2020, 2025
WI	Alma Station	Dairyland Power Cooperative	1, 2, 3	1947, 1947, 1951	15, 15, 15	2011
WI	Blount Street Station	Madison Gas & Electric	1-6	1925, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1957, 1961	10, 20, 23, 35, 50, 50	2011	gas
WI	Capitol Heat and Power Plant	Madison City Government	1, 2	1963, 1964	1.5	2010	gas
WI	Charter Street Plant	University of Wisconsin	1	1965	10	2010
WI	Edgewater Generating Station	Wisconsin Power & Light Company	3, 4	1951, 1969	60, 330	2015
WI	Manitowoc Power Plant	Manitowoc Public Utilities	1, 2	1950, 1956	10, 22		coal, gas, and waste
WI	Menasha Power Plant	Menasha Electric & Water Utility	1, 2	1954, 1964	7.5, 13.6	2009
WI	Nelson Dewey Generating Station	Wisconsin Power & Light Company	1, 2	1959, 1962	100, 100	2015
WI	Stoneman Generating Station	DTE Energy	1, 2	1952, 1952	18, 35	2010	wood waste
WI	Valley Power Plant	Wisconsin Electric Power Company	1, 2	1968, 1969	136, 136	2015
WI	Waupun Correction Central Heating Plant	State of Wisconsin	1, 2	1951, 1951	1, 1	2011
WV	Albright Power Station	Monongahela Power Company	1, 2, 3	1952, 1952, 1954	69, 69, 140	2012
WV	Kammer Plant	American Electric Power	1, 2, 3	1958, 1958, 1969	238, 238, 238	2014
WV	Kanawha River Plant	American Electric Power	1, 2	1953, 1953	220, 220	2014
WV	North Branch Station	Dominion	1	1992	80	2014
WV	Philip Sporn Power Plant	Appalachian Power Company	1-5	1950, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1960	152, 152, 152, 152, 496	2014, 2014, 2014, 2014, 2011
WV	Rivesville Power Station	Monongahela Power Company	1, 2	1943, 1951	35, 75	2012
WV	Willow Island Power Station	Monongahela Power Company	1, 2	1949, 1960	50, 163	2012
WY	Naughton Power Plant	PacifiCorp	3	1971	326	2014	Gas
WY	Neil Simpson Power Plant	Black Hills Corporation	1	1969	22	2014
WY	Osage Power Plant	Black Hills Corporation	1, 2, 3	1948, 1949, 1952	11.5, 11.5, 11.5	2014

Ownership of Existing U.S. Coal-Fired Generating Stations

In 2005, there were 1,522 coal-fired generating units in the U.S., with 335,891 MW of capacity. The following companies (with their current subsidiaries) were the top producers of coal-fired electricity in the U.S. in 2005:

Rank	Company/Entity	Number of Coal Plants (2005)	Total Coal Capacity (2005)	Total Coal Power Prod. (2005)	Total Coal SO2 Emissions (2005)	Coal SO2 Emissions Rate (lb/MWh)	2008 Revenue
1	American Electric Power	23	27,636 MW	167,422 GWh	1,043,582 tons	12.47	$13.33 billion
2	Southern Company	22	26,610 MW	163,360 GWh	1,090,967 tons	13.36	$17.00 billion
3	Duke Energy	20	18,585 MW	111,571 GWh	839,361 tons	15.05	$12.93 billion
4	Tennessee Valley Authority	12	17,647 MW	98,919 GWh	461,016 tons	9.32	$9.11 billion
5	Ameren	11	10,719 MW	67,477 GWh	302,285 tons	8.96	$7.67 billion
6	MidAmerican Energy	12	10,282 MW	67,028 GWh	172,946 tons	5.16	$12.38 billion
7	Edison International	11	10,253 MW	61,521 GWh	265,778 tons	8.64	$14.05 billion
8	Xcel Energy	15	8,961 MW	56,616 GWh	149,108 tons	5.27	$11.13 billion
9	NRG Energy	8	8,657 MW	53,586 GWh	180,696 tons	6.74	$6.89 billion
10	Dominion	16	9,031 MW	52,845 GWh	214,038 tons	8.10	$16.29 billion
11	FirstEnergy	9	8,495 MW	52,291 GWh	300,414 tons	11.49	$13.20 billion
12	E.ON	12	8,251 MW	47,307 GWh	236,000 tons	9.98	$116.95 billion
13	Progress Energy	9	7,925 MW	47,006 GWh	315,746 tons	13.43	$9.17 billion
14	Reliant Energy	11	8,134 MW	46,217 GWh	401,943 tons	17.39	$12.55 billion
15	Luminant	4	6,137 MW	45,911 GWh	273,126 tons	11.90	$8.50 billion
16	Allegheny Energy	10	7,636 MW	43,769 GWh	339,724 tons	15.52	$3.39 billion
17	DTE Energy	8	7,998 MW	41,782 GWh	199,337 tons	9.54	$9.33 billion
18	PPL	5	5,940 MW	38,512 GWh	260,936 tons	13.55	$8.04 billion
19	AES	14	5,371 MW	33,516 GWh	166,154 tons	9.91	$16.07 billion
20	Dynegy	6	3,755 MW	23,426 GWh	64,452 tons	5.50	$3.55 billion
21	Entergy	3	4,015 MW	23,038 GWh	70,502 tons	6.12	$13.09 billion
22	Alliant Energy	11	4,055 MW	21,456 GWh	97,114 tons	9.05	$3.68 billion
23	Great Plains Energy	4	3,462 MW	20,997 GWh	64,686 tons	6.16	$1.67 billion
24	CMS Energy	6	3,090 MW	20,367 GWh	91,317 tons	8.97	$6.82 billion
25	Westar Energy	3	2,958 MW	19,882 GWh	78,548 tons	7.90	$1.84 billion

These 25 largest operators of coal plants (all privately-owned corporations, with the exception of the TVA, which is a publicly-owned corporation) own 264 out of the 614 coal-fired power plants in the U.S.; these 264 plants produced a total of 1,425,653 GWh of electricity in 2005 (70.8% of total U.S. coal-fired power production). The coal plants owned by these 25 entities also produced 7,679,776 tons of SO₂ in 2005, equivalent to 52.2% of all U.S. SO₂ emissions from all sources.

Additionally, these 25 entities had combined total revenues of $348.63 billion in 2007 (which is equivalent to 2.4% of the total U.S. GDP). The U.S. coal industry is a big, big business, and its main players – who control the vast majority of U.S. coal power production – are among the biggest corporations in the country. (Dominion, Southern, AES, Duke, Edison, FirstEnergy, Entergy, Reliant, Progress, Xcel, DTE, Ameren, PPL, CMS, and NRG are all among the Fortune 500; MidAmerican is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, the 13th biggest corporation in the U.S., and E.ON - based in Germany - is the biggest electric utility in the world.)

Cost of Electricity from Existing Coal Plants

As of July, 2008, the average cost of coal supplied to existing coal plants in the United States was $2.09 per million BTU. At 34.3% efficiency for a typical coal plant, that translates to 2.08 cents per kilowatt hour for coal. Operation and maintenance is approximately 0.75 cents per kilowatt hour. So total fuel and operating costs for a typical coal plant is 2.83 cents per kilowatt hour. Since the median age of existing coal plants is 44 years, most are already fully amortized. That means their owners have fully paid off the construction costs, and operating and fuel costs are the only components of cost.

For more on the financial risks of coal energy investment, see Financial Risks of Coal Energy Investment.

External Costs of Existing Coal Plants

In economics, an external cost or externality is a negative effect of an economic activity on a third party.External costs of coal plants include the following:

• Reduction in life expectancy (particulates, sulfur dioxide, ozone, heavy metal, benzene, radionuclides, etc.)
• Respiratory hospital admissions (particulates, ozone, sulfur dioxide)
• Congrestive heart failure (particulates and carbon monoxide)
• Non-fatal cancer, osteroporosia, ataxia, renal dysfunction (benzene, radionuclines, heavy metal, etc.)
• Chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks, etc. (particulates, ozone)
• Loss of IQ (mercury)
• Degradation and soiling of buildings (sulfur dioxide, acid deposition, particulates)
• Reduction of crop yields (NOx, sulfur dioxide, ozone, acid deposition); some emissions may also have a fertilizing effect (nitrogen and sulfur deposition)
• Global warming (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide)
• Ecosystem loss and degradation

Among the impacts of coal plants are the fine particulates released directly or produced indirectly by sulfur dioxide emissions. According to a 2004 study released by the Clean Air Task Force, fine particulates from power plants result in nearly 24,000 annual deaths, with 14 years lost on average for each death. Based on social decisions in other contexts such as transportation and medicine, researchers report (see below) that American society is willing to spend $129,090 to avoid the loss of a year of life. This suggests that society would be willing to spend at an additional $40 billion (i.e., 24,000 annual deaths x 14 years lost x $129,000 per year lost) for alternative ways of generating electricity that did not produce deadly pollution. With US coal plants generating about 2 billion Gigawatt hours annually, the expenditure of an additional $40 billion would raise the cost of electricity by about two cents per kilowatt hour.

For more on the external costs of coal, see External costs of coal.

Impact of Climate Change Legislation on Existing U.S. Coal Plants

It remains unclear how the proposed Waxman-Markey Climate Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2009 and heads to discussion by the Senate in the Fall, will impact existing coal plants. Although the version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) that passed the House requires a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions from new coal plants by 2025, it mandates no specific reduction requirements for existing plants. Environmental groups and public health advocates are concerned that, by driving up the cost of new plants and offering free emissions allowances or carbon offsets for older facilities, the bill may result in even heavier reliance on an aging fleet of coal plants. Some groups have expressed concern that the climate change legislation may end up having similar issues to the 1977 Clean Air Act, which grandfathered in older plants and largely exempted them from requirements that facilities use the best available pollution-control technologies. Environmental advocates hope that the Senate will add regulations to ACES that will lead to the closure of older, highly polluting plants.

Retrofitting Existing Coal Plants for Carbon Capture

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it is not economical to retrofit existing coal plants with carbon capture technology:

Existing CO2 capture technologies are not cost-effective when considered in the context of large power plants. Economic studies indicate that carbon capture will add over 30 percent to the cost of electricity for new integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) units and over 80 percent to the cost of electricity if retrofitted to existing pulverized coal (PC) units. A recent study from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) confirms that additional alternatives need to be pursued to bring the cost of carbon capture down. In addition, the net electricity produced from existing plants would be significantly reduced - often referred to as parasitic loss - since 20 to 30 percent of the power generated by the plant would have to be used to capture and compress the CO2.

SO₂ Pollution and Pollution Controls

In 1970, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Air Act, which regulated the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO₂), among other forms of pollution. SO₂ contributes strongly to acid rain, and causes or exacerbates respiratory illnesses. However, the legislation allowed for exemptions for older power plants. This legislation has been strengthened since then: in 1977, the New Source Review increased compliance by states, while the EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule, passed in 2005, requires a 57% cut in U.S. SO₂ emissions by 2015. (Roughly 60% of U.S. SO₂ emissions come from coal-fired power plants.) Especially since 2005, many utilities have begun attaching SO₂ scrubbers to their coal-fired generating stations. However, many plants still do not have adequate - or even any - SO₂ controls.

According to data from the Energy Information Administration, the following proportions of coal-fired power plants with capacity over 100 MW had SO₂ scrubbers in 2005:

SO2 Removal Rate	# of Plants	Total Capacity
Over 90%	94	46,734 MW
80-89%	49	21,613 MW
70-79%	52	20,950 MW
16-69%	11	3,825 MW
None	628	220,664 MW

It is possible that some coal-fired plants with SO₂ scrubbers did not report their scrubbers to the EIA, and thus that the above table overstates the number of plants without SO₂ controls. However, out of 257 U.S. coal-fired power plants which produced more than 2,000 GWh of power in 2006, 86 had SO₂ emissions that were higher than 10 lb/MWh – compared with an average of 1 lb/MWh for coal plants with state-of-the-art SO₂ scrubbers. We can surmise that these 86 plants almost certainly have zero or extremely minimal SO₂ scrubbers, or have SO₂ scrubbers that were not functioning in 2006.

A more recent survey (June 2008) of coal-fired power plants conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency found that 209,000 MW out of 329,000 MW of capacity, or 63.5%, had no scrubbers. Of the 120,000 MW fitted with scrubbers, 104,000 MW represented wet fluidized gas disposal systems and 16,200 MW represented dry fluidized gas disposal systems.

The following table summarizes the findings of the EPA survey (June 2008):

Scrubber Status (2008)	Plants Without Scrubbers	Plants With Scrubbers	Total
Number of Plants	351	146	497
Number of Generating Units	990	290	1,280
Capacity (MW)	209,000	120,000	329,000

In 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency released projections about future scrubber systems at coal-fired power plants. The following table shows the EPA's projections for scrubbers in 2009 and 2010. The reason that the total capacity represented by these figures is lower than the figures shown above (316,000 MW in 2009 and 318,000 MW in 2010, compared to the 329,000 MW shown above for of capacity survey in 2008), is that these figures are based on a database that uses summer and winter capacity rather than nameplate capacity.

Scrubber Status	Capacity Without Scrubbers (MW)	Capacity With Scrubbers (MW)	Total Capacity (MW)
2009 (projected)	159,000	157,000	316,000
2010 (projected)	134,000	184,000	318,000

The following table summarizes the data from EPA's 2008 survey and 2009/2010 projections:

Year	Percent of Coal Capacity with Scrubbers
2008 (actual)	36%
2009 (projected)	50%
2010 (projected)	58%

Here is a comprehensive list of these 86 dirtiest large U.S. coal-fired power plants in 2006, in terms of SO₂ emissions:

Rank	Plant Name	State	Year(s) Built	Parent Company	Capacity	Total SO2 Emissions	SO2 Rate
1	R. Gallagher	IN	1958-61	Duke Energy	600 MW	50,819 tons	40.38 lb/MWh
2	Muskingum River	OH	1953-58, 1968	American Electric Power	1529 MW	122,984 tons	32.78 lb/MWh
3	Warrick	IN	1960-70	Alcoa	755 MW	92,919 tons	32.69 lb/MWh
4	Hatfield's Ferry Power Station	PA	1969-71	Allegheny Energy	1728 MW	135,082 tons	28.91 lb/MWh
5	Portland	PA	1958-62	Reliant Energy	427 MW	30,685 tons	28.30 lb/MWh
6	Wabash River	IN	1953-56, 1968, 1995	Duke Energy	1165 MW	58,793 tons	27.66 lb/MWh
7	Shawville	PA	1954-60	Reliant Energy	626 MW	47,287 tons	26.96 lb/MWh
8	Cayuga	IN	1970-72	Duke Energy	1062 MW	86,174 tons	26.68 lb/MWh
9	Morgantown	MD	1970-71	Mirant	1252 MW	98,073 tons	26.08 lb/MWh
10	Keystone	PA	1967-68	Reliant Energy	1872 MW	164,354 tons	25.83 lb/MWh
11	Avon Lake	OH	1949, 1970	Reliant Energy	766 MW	43,479 tons	24.50 lb/MWh
12	Harding Street	IN	1958-61, 1973	AES	698 MW	46,346 tons	24.00 lb/MWh
13	Jefferies	SC	1970	Santee Cooper	346 MW	26,299 tons	23.92 lb/MWh
14	E.W. Brown	KY	1957-63, 1971	E.ON	739 MW	45,191 tons	23.75 lb/MWh
15	Montour	PA	1972-73	PPL	1624 MW	129,357 tons	23.70 lb/MWh
16	Kammer	WV	1958-59	American Electric Power	713 MW	119,369 tons	23.58 lb/MWh
17	Cheswick	PA	1970	Reliant Energy	637 MW	32,373 tons	23.01 lb/MWh
18	E.C. Gaston	AL	1960-62, 1974	Southern Company	2013 MW	130,494 tons	22.91 lb/MWh
19	Dickerson	MD	1959-62	Mirant	588 MW	35,954 tons	22.82 lb/MWh
20	Johnsonville Fossil Plant	TN	1951-59	Tennessee Valley Authority	1485 MW	86,793 tons	22.67 lb/MWh
21	Fort Martin Power Station	WV	1967-68	Allegheny Energy	1152 MW	87,565 tons	21.79 lb/MWh
22	Yates	GA	1950-58, 1974	Southern Company	1487 MW	75,476 tons	21.63 lb/MWh
23	Big Brown	TX	1971-72	Luminant	1187 MW	96,221 tons	21.59 lb/MWh
24	Chalk Point	MD	1964-65	Mirant	728 MW	49,591 tons	21.14 lb/MWh
25	Merrimack	NH	1960-68	Northeast Utilities	459 MW	32,726 tons	20.70 lb/MWh
26	Leland Olds	ND	1966, 1975	Basin Electric Power Cooperative	656 MW	40,027 tons	20.50 lb/MWh
27	Brunner Island	PA	1961-69	PPL	1559 MW	93,545 tons	20.49 lb/MWh
28	Walter C. Beckjord	OH	1952-62, 1969	Duke Energy	1221 MW	62,480 tons	20.32 lb/MWh
29	Hammond	GA	1954-55, 1970	Southern Company	953 MW	40,579 tons	20.25 lb/MWh
30	Conesville	OH	1962, 1973-78	American Electric Power	1891 MW	90,540 tons	20.00 lb/MWh
31	Yorktown	VA	1957-59	Dominion	375 MW	21,685 tons	19.86 lb/MWh
32	Gorgas	AL	1951-58, 1972	Southern Company	1417 MW	81,268 tons	19.53 lb/MWh
33	Greene County	AL	1965-66	Southern Company	568 MW	37,863 tons	18.99 lb/MWh
34	Eastlake	OH	1953-56, 1972	FirstEnergy	1257 MW	82,705 tons	18.87 lb/MWh
35	Harllee Branch	GA	1965-69	Southern Company	1746 MW	95,990 tons	18.73 lb/MWh
36	Miami Fort	OH	1949, 1960, 1975-78	Duke Energy	1378 MW	62,028 tons	18.63 lb/MWh
37	Canadys Steam	SC	1962-67	SCANA	490 MW	22,984 tons	18.58 lb/MWh
38	Kyger Creek	OH	1955	American Electric Power and FirstEnergy	1086 MW	67,157 tons	18.30 lb/MWh
39	Bowen	GA	1971-75	Southern Company	3499 MW	206,442 tons	18.24 lb/MWh
40	Homer City	PA	1969, 1977	Exelon	2012 MW	106,772 tons	17.42 lb/MWh
41	Philip Sporn	WV	1950-52, 1960	American Electric Power	1106 MW	39,741 tons	15.69 lb/MWh
42	Chesterfield	VA	1952-1969	Dominion	1353 MW	64,863 tons	15.55 lb/MWh
43	Wateree	SC	1970-71	SCANA	772 MW	32,797 tons	15.30 lb/MWh
44	Jack McDonough	GA	1963-64	Southern Company	598 MW	28,835 tons	15.29 lb/MWh
45	E.D. Edwards	IL	1960, 1968-72	Ameren	780 MW	50,126 tons	15.28 lb/MWh
46	Wansley	GA	1976-78	Southern Company	1904 MW	96,200 tons	15.25 lb/MWh
47	Herbert A. Wagner	MD	1959, 1966	Constellation Energy	495 MW	19,646 tons	15.13 lb/MWh
48	Cardinal	OH	1967, 1977	American Electric Power	1880 MW	86,880 tons	15.12 lb/MWh
49	Clifty Creek	IN	1955-56	American Electric Power and FirstEnergy	1303 MW	65,372 tons	14.32 lb/MWh
50	Cliffside	NC	1940-48, 1972	Duke Energy	781 MW	28,878 tons	14.30 lb/MWh
51	G.G. Allen	NC	1957-61	Duke Energy	1155 MW	45,395 tons	14.13 lb/MWh
52	J.M. Stuart	OH	1970-74	DPL	2441 MW	103,649 tons	14.11 lb/MWh
53	L.V. Sutton	NC	1954-55, 1972	Progress Energy	672 MW	19,159 tons	13.85 lb/MWh
54	Gibson	IN	1975-82	Duke Energy	3340 MW	155,057 tons	13.80 lb/MWh
55	Sioux	MO	1967-68	Ameren	1100 MW	44,148 tons	13.80 lb/MWh
56	Mitchell	WV	1971	American Electric Power	1633 MW	53,152 tons	13.67 lb/MWh
57	Trenton Channel	MI	1949-50, 1968	DTE Energy	776 MW	29,066 tons	13.52 lb/MWh
58	Clinch River	VA	1958-61	American Electric Power	713 MW	27,134 tons	13.17 lb/MWh
59	Marshall	NC	1965-70	Duke Energy	1996 MW	85,050 tons	13.17 lb/MWh
60	Hudson	NJ	1968	Public Service Enterprise Group	660 MW	19,709 tons	13.04 lb/MWh
61	Big Sandy	KY	1963-69	American Electric Power	1097 MW	46,476 tons	12.96 lb/MWh
62	Roxboro	NC	1966-73, 1980	Progress Energy	2558 MW	92,259 tons	12.55 lb/MWh
63	Williams	SC	1973	SCANA	633 MW	28,147 tons	12.53 lb/MWh
64	Belews Creek	NC	1974-75	Duke Energy	2160 MW	95,290 tons	12.30 lb/MWh
65	Sandow 4	TX	1981	Luminant	591 MW	23,747 tons	12.25 lb/MWh
66	Indian River	DE	1957-59, 1970, 1980	NRG Energy	782 MW	20,705 tons	12.24 lb/MWh
67	Tanners Creek	IN	1951-54, 1964	American Electric Power	1100 MW	35,494 tons	12.08 lb/MWh
68	John Sevier Fossil Plant	TN	1955-57	Tennessee Valley Authority	800 MW	30,126 tons	11.95 lb/MWh
69	Jack Watson	MS	1968, 1973	Southern Company	750 MW	29,113 tons	11.94 lb/MWh
70	Bull Run Fossil Plant	TN	1967	Tennessee Valley Authority	950 MW	27,987 tons	11.92 lb/MWh
71	John E. Amos	WV	1971-73	American Electric Power	2933 MW	117,299 tons	11.68 lb/MWh
72	Paradise Fossil Plant	KY	1963, 1970	Tennessee Valley Authority	2558 MW	83,926 tons	11.55 lb/MWh
73	Monroe	MI	1970-74	DTE Energy	3280 MW	103,570 tons	11.52 lb/MWh
74	St. Clair	MI	1953-54, 1961, 1969	DTE Energy	1547 MW	42,374 tons	11.39 lb/MWh
75	Crist	FL	1959-61, 1970-73	Southern Company	1135 MW	35,614 tons	11.34 lb/MWh
76	Genoa	WI	1969	Dairyland Power Cooperative	346 MW	11,420 tons	11.26 lb/MWh
77	Michigan City	IN	1974	NiSource	540 MW	15,993 tons	11.21 lb/MWh
78	Mayo	NC	1983	Progress Energy	736 MW	24,499 tons	11.20 lb/MWh
79	W.H. Sammis	OH	1959-62, 1967-71	FirstEnergy	2456 MW	86,392 tons	11.08 lb/MWh
80	Milton R. Young	ND	1970, 1977	Minnkota Power Cooperative	734 MW	26,879 tons	11.06 lb/MWh
81	Killen	OH	1982	DPL	666 MW	22,825 tons	10.97 lb/MWh
82	Kingston Fossil Plant	TN	1954-55	Tennessee Valley Authority	1700 MW	55,473 tons	10.69 lb/MWh
83	Winyah	SC	1975-81	Santee Cooper	1260 MW	42,709 tons	10.68 lb/MWh
84	Colbert Fossil Plant	AL	1955, 1965	Tennessee Valley Authority	1350 MW	39,942 tons	10.41 lb/MWh
85	Monticello	TX	1974-78	Luminant	1980 MW	77,538 tons	10.37 lb/MWh
86	H.L. Spurlock	KY	1977-81, 2005	East Kentucky Power Cooperative	1279 MW	38,877 tons	10.22 lb/MWh

While the 86 plants shown in the table above have a capacity of 107.1 GW, or 9.9% of total U.S. electric capacity, they emitted 5,389,592 tons of SO₂ in 2006; this represents 28.6% of U.S. SO₂ emissions from all sources.

These dirtiest big coal-fired power plants – many of which are among the oldest in the country (the median age of the 86 plants is 45 years) – are mostly owned by the biggest U.S. coal energy companies. Here is a list of the owners of these 86 dirtiest big coal-fired power plants, ranked by total capacity of the dirtiest coal plants that they own, and including a ranking of the company's position in the coal energy industry:

Rank	Company/Entity	Rank in U.S. Coal Energy Production	# of Dirtiest Big Coal Plants	Total Capacity of Dirtiest Big Coal Plants
1	Southern Company	2	11	16,071 MW
2	American Electric Power	1	11	15,766 MW
3	Duke Energy	3	10	14,858 MW
4	Tennessee Valley Authority	4	6	8,843 MW
5	DTE Energy	14	3	5,602 MW
6	Reliant Energy	13	5	4,328 MW
7	FirstEnergy	10	3	4,203 MW
8	Progress Energy	15	3	3,966 MW
9	Luminant	17	3	3,757 MW
10	PPL	18	2	3,183 MW
11	DPL	24	2	3,107 MW
12	Allegheny Energy	16	2	2,880 MW
13	Mirant	20	3	2,568 MW
14	Exelon	7	1	2,012 MW
15	SCANA	34	3	1,894 MW
16	Ameren	5	2	1,880 MW
17	Dominion	11	2	1,728 MW
18	Santee Cooper	33	2	1,606 MW
19	East Kentucky Power Co-op	N/A	1	1,279 MW
20	AES	19	1	842 MW
21	NRG Energy	9	1	782 MW
22	Alcoa	N/A	1	755 MW
23	E.ON	12	1	739 MW
24	Minnkota Power Cooperative	N/A	1	734 MW
25	Public Service Enterprise Group	N/A	1	660 MW
26	Basin Electric Power Co-op	29	1	656 MW
27	NiSource	25	1	540 MW
28	Constellation Energy	36	1	495 MW
29	Northeast Utilities	N/A	1	459 MW
30	Dairyland Power Cooperative	N/A	1	346 MW

Thus, even though SO2 scrubbers have become significantly less expensive in recent years, many of the biggest coal energy companies in the country – many of which have billions of dollars of annual revenues – have failed to install SO2 scrubbers on many of their oldest and dirtiest coal plants.

Oldest existing coal plants

These are the oldest existing coal plants in the U.S.:

Rank	State	Plant Name	Date Plant Began Operation	2007 Power Prod.	Notes
1	IN	Perry K Steam Plant	Aug, 1938	72 GWh
2	WI	Blount Street Station	Dec, 1938	2,031 GWh
3	IA	Sixth Street Generating Station	Apr, 1940	321 GWh	Retired 2010
4	NC	Cliffside Plant (existing)	Jul, 1940	4,336 GWh	Retiring Units 1-4 in 2012
5	IA	Dubuque Generating Station	Jun, 1941	338 GWh	Retired Unit 1 in 2010
6	NC	Buck Steam Station	Jul, 1941	1,847 GWh	Retiring Units 3,4 in 2011
7	MN	High Bridge Generating Plant	Jan, 1942	939 GWh
8	IN	Harding Street Station	Apr, 1942	4,115 GWh
9	WI	Pulliam Power Plant	Jan, 1943	2,519 GWh
10	NY	AES Westover Generation Plant	Oct, 1943	496 GWh
11	OH	Burger Plant	Jan, 1944	1,297 GWh	Retired Units 4,5 in 2010
12	WV	Rivesville Power Station	Jan, 1944	271 GWh
13	VA	Glen Lyn Plant	Jun, 1944	1,612 GWh	Retiring Units 5,6 in 2014
14	IN	Edwardsport Plant	Jul, 1944	254 GWh	Retiring Units 7,8 in 2011
15	NY	Huntley Generating Station	Jan, 1945	2,756 GWh
16	VA	Potomac River Generating Station	Oct, 1946	1,601 GWh	Retiring in 2012
17	MD	R. Paul Smith Power Station	Jan, 1947	698 GWh
18	IL	Havana Power Station	Jul, 1947	3,460 GWh
19	KY	Tyrone Generating Station	Oct, 1947	429 GWh	Retiring in 2016
20	IA	Lansing Power Station	Jan, 1948	1,724 GWh	Retired Units 2,3 in 2010
21	PA	Mitchell Plant	Jan, 1948	952 GWh	Retiring Unit 1 - year unknown
22	IL	Meredosia Power Station	Jun, 1948	1,952 GWh
23	OH	Hutchings Station	Jul, 1948	691 GWh
24	MI	Cobb Generating Plant	Sep, 1948	2,339 GWh
25	NY	Russell Station	Dec, 1948	1,315 GWh
26	KS	Riverton Power Plant	Jan, 1949	672 GWh
27	MN	Riverside Generating Plant (Minnesota)	Jan, 1949	2,344 GWh
28	IN	Eagle Valley Station	Feb, 1949	1,577 GWh
29	AL	Gadsden Steam Plant	Apr, 1949	539 GWh
30	MI	Trenton Channel Power Plant	May, 1949	3,388 GWh
31	WI	Stoneman Generating Station	May, 1949	66 GWh
32	PA	Sunbury Steam Station	Aug, 1949	1,910 GWh
33	NC	Weatherspoon Plant	Sep, 1949	1,018 GWh	Retiring in 2017
34	IL	Wood River Station	Nov, 1949	3,041 GWh
35	OH	Avon Lake Power Plant	Dec, 1949	3,078 GWh
36	OH	Miami Fort Station	Dec, 1949	7,399 GWh
37	NY	Dunkirk Steam Station	Jan, 1950	3,646 GWh

2010 Report: New EPA regulations could make old coal plants prohibitively expensive

According to the 2010 report "Impact of EPA Rules on Power Markets," by Credit Suisse, tougher federal air pollution rules that will be coming in the next few years could prompt electricity companies to close as many as 1 in every 5 coal-burning power plants in America, primarily facilities more than 40 years old that lack emissions controls.

The regulations being crafted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), expected to go into force in April and November 2011 in accordance with the Clean Air Act, are aimed at reducing mercury, acid rain, and smog-forming emissions from utility smokestacks. The study found that the EPA rules, combined with a recent drop in the price of natural gas, could over the next four to five years cause the utility industry to accelerate retirement of old coal-fired power plants rather than spend to upgrade the plants' emissions controls.

After expected emissions upgrades, the coal fleet will continue to have plants, producing about 103,000 megawatts, that are still "lacking any major emission controls," the study says. The oldest, smallest coal plants with few emissions controls make up an "at-risk" of closure portion that account for about 20 percent of total US coal-fired generating capacity, or 69,000 megawatts. The cost to cut sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and mercury emissions could run $50 billion to $70 billion, not counting the oldest plants. Upgrading those would cost another $80 billion to $110 billion.

Data sources on existing coal plants

• Electric Power Annual - U.S. Energy Information Administration: The EIA's annual reports on the electric power sector provide 12 years of summary statistics on capacity, generation, fuel consumption, fuel cost, loads, electricity prices, plant capacity factors, heat rates, sales, revenues, and other characteristics of the U.S. coal fleet.

• All Reports & Publications - U.S. Energy Information Administration: This EIA page allows users to search for reports on energy by fuel type and by topic.

• Electricity Data Files - U.S. Energy Information Administration: This page provides links to statistics for individual generating units.

Resources

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Campus coal plants
• Climate impacts of coal plants
• Coal
• Coal and jobs in the United States
• Coal and transmission
• Coal-fired power plant capacity and generation
• Coal moratorium
• Coal phase-out
• Coal plant conversion projects
• Coal plant retirements
• Coal plants near residential areas
• Coal waste
• Comparative electrical generation costs
• Dispelling the myths of the acid rain story
• Divestment and shareholder action on coal
• Environmental impacts of coal
• Former coal plants
• Global warming
• Google Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal initiative
• Gore zero-carbon proposal
• Mercury and coal
• Oldest existing coal plants
• Opposition to existing coal plants
• Retrofit vs. Phase-Out of Coal-Fired Power Plants
• Scrubber Retrofits at Existing Coal Plants
• Sulfur dioxide and coal
• United States and coal
• U.S. Coal Capacity by Year

External Links

• Courtney Abrams, "America's Biggest Polluters: Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants in 2007," Environment America Research & Policy Center, November 2009.
• Ted Nace, "Meet the Boomers: What's the best way to phase out the huge fleet of aging coal plants?", Grist, November 11, 2008.
• Ted Nace, "Death of a Thousand Cuts: A Messy But Practical Strategy for Phasing out the U.S. Coal Fleet," Grist, March 20, 2010.
• "Innovations for Existing Power Plants," Department of Energy
• "Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the U.S. - 2006," Natural Resources Defense Council
• "Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category: 2007/2008 Detailed Study Report," U.S Environmental Protection Agency, August 2008
• "Impact of EPA Rules on Power Markets," Credit Suisse, September 23, 2010
• Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool, prepared by Abt Associates for the Clean Air Task Force, July 2010 (state-by-state mortality and morbidity figures - Table 37, page 97)
• Metin Celebi, "Potential Coal Plant Retirements Under Emerging Environmental Regulations" The Brattle Group, December 8, 2010
• "Ensuring a Clean, Modern Electric Generating Fleet while Maintaining Electric System Reliability," M.J. Bradley & Associates LLC, August 2010
• "Coal‐Fired Electric Generation Unit Retirement Analysis," ICF International for The INGAA Foundation & INGAA, May 18, 2010
• "Growth from Subtraction," Credit Suisse, September 23, 2010
• "Why coal plants retire: power market fundamentals as of 2012," Susan F. Tierney, Analysis, Group, February 16, 2012