coal power plants

A Fair Green Deal for the Last Coal Plant in Mississippi

Late in 2021, Southern Company, the giant utility headquartered in Atlanta, announced it would pursue the retirement or conversion of 15 coal-fired generation units at its power plants, totaling nearly 9,000 MW of capacity. One Southern-owned plant was conspicuously absent from those plans: the Red Hills Generating Facility, a 440 MW lignite … [continued]

EV in a Frightening Chinese Haze

Imagine confusion, trying to navigate streets in a Chinese haze where you can’t see across the street. It is like being in a dense fog where you are afraid to breath. Street signs are invisible even if you could understand them. Crossing the street on foot is more a matter of trust or hope than observation. The situation is in many ways similar to our gaze into a murky transportation future. “Is that an EV or a too silent hybrid bearing down on us out of the gloom? Do we hear the clatter of a diesel engine approaching or is that a familiar gasoline powered car about to run us over?” An unknown future creates anxiety.

How Old Are US Power Plants?

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), about 530 gigawatts, or 51% of all generating capacity, were at least 30 years old at the end of 2010. The U.S. fleet of electric power generators has a very wide range of ages, dependent on technology type.