PPL to retire Corette coal-fired power plant

OREANDA-NEWS. PPL subsidiary PPL Montana will permanently shut down its coal-fired J.E. Corette power plant in April and start the decommissioning process in August rather than place it on reserve as it had previously planned.

Costs to upgrade the 153MW plant have "increased significantly" since PPL Montana decided in 2012 to mothball it in April 2015 and keep it on reserve status for potential retrofitting and reopening. And wholesale power prices in the northwest US remain low, the utility said yesterday.

PPL Montana is stopping operations at the Corette plant in April to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's mercury and air toxics standards that take effect that month.

The Corette plant burns lower-heat, or 8,400 Btu/lb, Powder River basin coal, and has been in operation since 1968. It will take about two years to fully remediate the plant, the company told Argus today.

PPL Montana's decision on Corette will have no effect on the larger Colstrip coal-fueled plant, which has total capacity of 2,090MW and is jointly owned with Puget Sound Energy, Portland General Electric, Avista, PacifiCorp and NorthWestern Energy.