United States utilities are responding to federal power plant regulations by retiring coal-fired generation faster than expected, according to a U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) analysis of public data released September 15. “About 13% of coal-fueled generating capacity—42,192 megawatts (MW)—has either been retired since 2012 or is planned for retirement by 2025, which exceeds the estimates of two to 12% of capacity that GAO reported in 2012,” the agency states. With some exceptions, “the units that power companies have retired or plan to retire are generally older, smaller, more polluting, and not used extensively.” According to Politico Morning Energy, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was not amused by the report: “The number of coal-fired plants that are being forced to shut down is alarming, and I truly believe we are setting ourselves up for a major electric stability crisis in this country,” he said.
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