ALLENTOWN, Pa.---As part of its effort to enhance the company's leadership position in the evolving electricity generation marketplace in the Northeast, PP&L, Inc. said Thursday (8/13) that it would close part of a powerplant in Lancaster County and that it would seek a buyer for another plant in Snyder County.
"Today, we are one of the leading suppliers of competitively priced electricity from New England to the mid-Atlantic region," said RobertG. Byram, senior vice president-Generation and chief nuclear officer. "To further strengthen this leadership position, we must continue to reduce our costs and to devote our resources to facilities that hold promise for the long term."
As part of the company's continual examination of its operations, Byram said the company recently completed an extensive assessment of the cost effectiveness of all its power plants. The company announced the conclusions of that effort on Thursday.
The company told employees at its coal-fired Holtwood 17 plant that the facility would close on May 1, 1999. The adjacent hydroelectric plant, locatedon the lower Susquehanna River, will continue to operate.
Also, the company told employees at its coal-fired Sunbury plant thatit plans to explore selling that facility.
"These units, which are among the oldest in our system, are costly to maintain and they generate a relatively small amount of electricity -less than 8 percent of the company's annual total. Also, it is very costly to achieve our high environmental objectives at such facilities," said Byram. Holtwood began operation in 1954, Sunbury in 1949.
Byram said employees at Holtwood and Sunbury have done an "outstanding job of improving productivity and operating these facilities in the best manner possible. Unfortunately, we now have reached a point where it is no longer effective for PP&L, Inc. to operate these units.
"The actions we are announcing will help PP&L, Inc. better focus its financial resources - and its people - on power plants that will successfully compete in the competitive marketplace and will help the company improve its environmental performance," said Byram.
The company will continue to operate coal-fired plants in Washingtonville, Montour County; at Brunner Island in York County; and at Martins Creek in Northampton County. PP&L, Inc. also will continue to operate two oil-fired and natural gas generating units at Martins Creek and two nuclear generating units in Salem Township, Luzerne County.
"We have an outstanding mix of high-performance generating plants- facilities that are the backbone of the electricity supply system in Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region," said Byram.
But the Holtwood facility is no longer cost effective to operate, Byram said. In the competitive electricity marketplace, wholesale electricity prices are, on most days, lower than Holtwood 17's costs to produce electricity,Byram said.
He said that the closing would affect about 30 positions directly related to the operation of the plant. The employees may have job opportunities elsewhere in the PP&L, Inc. system, he said. Some employees also may have the opportunity to take early retirement. Further discussions are underway on how the closing may affect other positions that support operation of the plant.
Byram said the outlook for the company's Sunbury plant is somewhat different.
"Because Sunbury is a little larger than Holtwood and its production costs are slightly lower, we think this plant may be attractive to a potential buyer," said Byram. He noted that independent generation suppliers are particularly interested in owning assets in this area because it is one of the largest electricity marketplaces in the nation.
There are 167 employees at the Sunbury plant. "If we sell the plant, we anticipate that the purchaser would offer positions to many of the plant employees," said Byram.
Byram said that Holtwood 17 produces about 2 percent of PP&L, Inc.'sannual electricity generation; Sunbury about 6 percent.
He said PP&L, Inc. representatives are planning to meet with community leaders in the areas surrounding the plants this week.
(See the plant facts section for details on eachplant.)
PP&L, Inc. is PP&L Resources'largest subsidiary. It provides electricity delivery service to 1.2 million customers in Pennsylvania; generates electricity; sells retail electricity throughout Pennsylvania through its PP&L EnergyPlusTM brand; and markets wholesale energy.
Other PP&L Resources subsidiaries include PP&LGlobal, Inc., a worldwide independent power company; PP&L Spectrum, Inc., which markets energy-related services and products; and two energy management and heating, ventilating and air-conditioning firms: H. T. Lyons, Inc. and McClure Co.
Plant Facts:
Holtwood Steam Electric Station (Unit 17)
Located on a 30-acre site in Martic Township, Lancaster County, Pa.,on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, about 17 miles downstream from Columbia, Pa., at the village of Holtwood.
Capacity: 79,000 kilowatts
Began Commercial Operation: May 1954
Fuel: anthracite, anthracite silt, and petroleum coke mix
Owner and Operator: PP&L, Inc.
* * * * * * * * *
Sunbury Steam Electric Station
Located on a 259-acre site 3.5 miles downstream from where the west and north branches of the Susquehanna River meet at Sunbury in Snyder County, Borough of Shamokin Dam.
Capacity:
|
Unit 1 |
Unit 2 |
Unit 3 |
Unit 4 |
|
85,000 kw |
85,000 kw |
110,000 kw |
145,000 kw |