DOE-Funded Report Predicts Significant Eastern U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plant Retirements, With Implications For Grid Reliability

An analysis released in late August by the Department of Energy predicts that between 35 and 60 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity generation in the eastern half of the country will be shut down within the next five years, due principally to increasingly tough environmental regulations and low natural gas prices resulting from abundant U.S. shale gas supplies. The report, prepared for the Eastern Interconnection States' Planning Council by ICF International, was completed in June 2013, but made available to the public only recently. The Eastern Interconnection electric transmission grid represents 84% of the nation's coal-fired electricity generation, and the report notes that the expected scope of the retirements may require new capacity and/or transmission investments to maintain grid reliability.