Columbus, OH-based American Electric Power (AEP) on Monday agreed to close or refuel units at three Midwest coal-fired electric generation plants and fill at least part of the lost capacity with renewable-based power supplies. Environmental groups hailed the move as a “victory for clean air.”

The closing by 2015 would be part of a precedent-setting settlement involving the giant utility company, citizen groups, eight states, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The plants slated for closure are located in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

Under the agreement, AEP plans to stop burning coal at its Tanners Creek Station Unit 4 in Indiana; Muskingum River Power Plant Unit 5 in Ohio; and the Big Sandy Power Plant Unit 2 in Kentucky. “Collectively, 2,011 MW of coal-fired power will be retired as part of the settlement. Environmental groups calculated that will remove nearly 12 million tons of carbon emissions and nearly 84,000 tons of sulfur dioxide that the units at the three plants now emit.

An AEP spokesperson told NGI that provisions of the deal give the utility the option in Indiana and Ohio of refueling the units using gas, but the company has not decided whether it will do that or simple shutter the units.

AEP has agreed to replace a portion of the generation capacity with new wind and solar facility investments in Indiana and Michigan, which the environmental groups said would add to the clean energy being used to meet the region’s electricity needs. The deal also includes investments AEP will make to curb its emissions at other plants in its sprawling generation plant fleet.

AEP said in a statement that the agreement on modifying an earlier consent decree will allow for environmental improvements at several of its plants at a lower cost for its customers. It did not mention the possibility of developing new gas-fired generation or any specifics on the proposed wind and solar installations in the statement.

AEP said it agreed to a lower system wide sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission cap for all of its plants, effective in 2016. The cap would then gradually be lowered further over time through 2029.

“The additional SO2 reductions track what we expected to achieve with our compliance plan for the [EPA’s new] mercury air toxics standards [MATS] rule,” a company spokesperson said. “Additionally, AEP will install a lower-cost SO2 reduction technology at its Rockport Plant and make SO2 remission reductions sooner than required under the original consent decree.”

The landmark settlement is the result of a lawsuit originally filed in federal court in Ohio in 1999, and it is a modification of a 2007 settlement that emanated from that case. Eight states were involved:(Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey), along with the EPA and 13 citizen groups, including the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and various state action councils.

©Copyright 2013Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.