Homer City Generating Station

Homer City Generating Station is a decommissioned 2-GW coal-burning power station near Homer City, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, USA. It is owned by hedge funds and private equity firms and is operated by NRG Energy.[1] Units 1 and 2, rated at 660 MWe, began operation in 1969. Unit 3, rated at 692 MWe nameplate capacity, was launched in 1977.[2] It employed about 124 people.[3]

Homer City Generating Station
CountryUnited States
LocationCenter Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°30′39″N 79°11′37″W
StatusDecommissioned
Commission dateUnits 1–2: 1969
Unit 3: 1977
Decommission dateUnits 1-3: July 1, 2023
Owner(s)Hedge funds and private equity firms[1]
Operator(s)NRG Energy
Thermal power station
Primary fuelBituminous coal
Turbine technologySteam turbine
Cooling sourceTwo Lick Reservoir, Two Lick Creek, and Blacklick Creek
Power generation
Nameplate capacity2022 MW
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

During the 2010s, it underwent two bankruptcies within five years.[1] On April 3, 2023, Homer City Generation announced a decision to shut down the power plant and be offline by June 2, 2023.[4]

Location

The station is located in Center Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, occupying approximately 2,400 acres (9.7 km2). The site also includes the 1,800-acre (7.3 km2) Two Lick Reservoir, a water conservation facility which is operated by the station.[3]

Cooling Towers of the Homer City Generating Station

From there, the Black Lick enters the Conemaugh River, which goes on to meet the Loyalhanna River, creating the Kiskiminetas River, before entering the Allegheny River.[3]

With diminishing local coal and mines to support it, the train track that ran through Indiana University of Pennsylvania had reopened and supplies were brought in by train.[3]

History

Until its construction in the 1960s by the Pennsylvania Electric Co. (PenElec) and others, much of the property was owned by the George family. In 1969, Units #1 and #2 began operation, while Unit #3 began operating in 1977.[3]

Six workers were injured on February 10, 2011, when a six-inch, high-pressure steam pipe in Unit 1 ruptured and caused an explosion on the sixth floor of a building. Three of the men were airlifted to the Western Pennsylvania Hospital burn center, and three were treated locally. The incident was investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.[5][6]

In 2001, affiliates of General Electric bought the plant from Edison International, and subsequently leased it back to them. In 2011, Edison failed to secure financing to add pollution-control devices and announced plans to transfer full control to General Electric. On February 29, 2012, Edison took a $1 billion impairment charge related to the Homer City plant and several other coal-fired power plants. At the end of 2012 full control of the plant was transferred back to General Electric, which hired an NRG affiliate to operate it.[7]

In early 2017, the plant filed for bankruptcy protection.[8]

In early 2022 the facility's owners announced that they were considering deactivating some of its units.[9] The owners initially decided to continue operation,[10] but on April 3, 2023 Homer City Generation announced a decision to shut down the power plant and be offline by June 2, 2023.[4]

The power plant was permanently decommissioned on July 1, 2023.[11][12]

Pollution

The plant was a major polluter, ranking highly both nationally and within the state, recently releasing 8,500,000 pounds (3,900 metric tons) of toxic chemicals according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pennsylvania has ranked it the #2 polluter in the state. Homer City Generating Station released huge amounts of mercury, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and other toxic or damaging chemicals. A scrubber was added in 1998 which reduced mercury output. In 2012, General Electric, through contractors, began construction of anti-pollution control equipment known as "scrubbers" to further reduce the plant's emissions.

Mercury pollution
  • In 1998, Homer City Generating Station produced a total (air and other) of 2,963 pounds (1,344 kg) of mercury according to the Environmental Working Group.
  • For 2003 another source (Environment Maine Research and Policy Center) claims it produced 665 pounds (302 kg) of mercury air pollution.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions

According to Public Citizen: "The plant ranks #33 in the nation for total CO2 emissions, contributing 13,745,174 tons of the pollutant primarily responsible for global warming to our atmosphere." The organization Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) reported in 2007 that this plant emitted 12,800,000 tons of CO2 and also ranked the facility as 33rd largest CO2 emitter in the United States.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution
  • In 1995, Homer City discharged 127,383 pounds (57.780 metric tons) of SO2.
  • In 2003, Homer City discharged 151,262 pounds (68.611 metric tons) of SO2 and was ranked the fourth-largest SO2 polluter in the nation.
  • In 2005, the facility was ranked as the nation's sixth-highest SO2 polluter as it discharged 119,771 pounds (54.327 metric tons) of SO2 that year.[13]

Selenium in wastewater discharges

In 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) fined the owners of the Homer City electricity generating station, EME Homer City Generation LP, $200,000 for violating the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law. The station exceeded its permitted effluent standards for selenium, total suspended solids, and biochemical oxygen demand in its wastewater discharges, and allowed unpermitted discharges of stormwater associated with its flue-gas desulfurization scrubbers.[14]

Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)

Homer City's three coal boilers installed Selective Catalytic Reduction to reduce ozone-forming NOx emissions in 2000 and 2001. This technology produced up to an 83% reduction in NOx emissions in subsequent years. Since the optimum years of 2005-06, emissions have begun to creep back up towards what they were before the installation of this technology. During the summer of 2012 plant emissions of NOx doubled over the 2005-06 period from 2,300 tons to 4,500 tons, even as electrical generation fell by 30%.[15] Through this same period, the price of natural gas, which competes with coal as a fuel for electrical generation, fell by some 60%.[16] Through the 2013 summer ozone season, this trend in rising emission rates continued resulting in over 6,300 tons of NOx emissions in excess of what could have been achieved had the plant operated at its previously demonstrated optimum rates seen in 2005-06.[15]

Architecture
View of the power plant from Homer-Center High School

The plant's Unit 3 has a 371 m (1,217 ft) tall chimney, which was built in 1977. This chimney is currently the third-tallest chimney in the world, the second-tallest in North America, and the tallest in the United States. On clear days, it is possible to spot the chimney from as far south as Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and as far east as Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. The chimney is no longer in use, as the gas flow from Unit 3 has been bypassed through a newer flue gas treatment system installed in 2002.

See also

References
  1. Litvak, Anya (June 14, 2017). "Homer City power plant, out of bankruptcy, still needs an overhaul". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  2. "Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2006" (Excel). Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy. 2006. Archived from the original on August 20, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
  3. "Homer City Generating Station" (PDF). Edison International. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2006. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
  4. Litvak, Anya (April 3, 2023). "Homer City coal plant, the largest in Pa., will close by June". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  5. "Steam Pipe Rupture at Pa. Power Plant Injures 6". Power. February 16, 2011. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  6. "Officials: 6 Hurt In Homer City Explosion". KDKA-TV. February 10, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  7. "Town Hopes to Keep Tower of Coal Power". The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. 2012. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  8. Kummer, Frank (March 28, 2017). "Trump or not, Pa. coal plants have long been on the way out". Philly.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  9. "Homer City coal-fired power plant owners say they may deactivate units". WPXI. February 15, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  10. Hurst, David (April 5, 2022). "Homer City power plant will remain at full operation". The Tribune-Democrat. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  11. "Pennsylvania's largest coal plant, and one of its largest polluters, to shut down". StateImpact Pennsylvania. June 16, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  12. "PJM - Generation Deactivations". www.pjm.com. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  13. "10236-north-american-power-plant-emissions-en" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  14. "DEP fines Homer City generating station $200,000 for selenium discharges". Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. July 13, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
  15. "Air Markets Program Data", USEPA, http://ampd.epa.gov/ampd/ Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
  16. "U.S. Natural Gas Wellhead Price (Dollars per Thousand Cubic Feet)". Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
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