Politics & Government

PSEG Reduces Emissions at Coal-Fired Plants, Wants Rivals to Do the Same

NJ power supplier backs federal clean air standards -- a decade after they were defined.

More than two decades after Congress passed tough new rules to clean up the nation’s air, the chief executive officer of one of the region’s largest power suppliers said yesterday the country should adopt those standards.

“It is time for the nation to implement the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990,’’ Ralph Izzo, chairman and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group, said yesterday in response to a question from a reporter following the company’s quarterly earnings call.

“The reality is this is going to happen,’’ said Izzo, whose company has invested more than $1 billion in upgrading two coal-fired plants to comply with stricter air pollution standards for mercury, only to see those rules delayed by opposition from other power suppliers.

Find out what's happening in East Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

What's more, natural gas prices have dropped so low that they have idled some of the company's coal plants, where big investments have been made to maintain those facilities as baseload generating stations, which typically run all of the time.

Those PSEG Power coal power plants would run more frequently if the federal government imposed stricter standards on mercury and other emissions, forcing dirtier and more polluting coal power plants in other regions to shut down or install expensive pollution controls.

Find out what's happening in East Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Traditionally, the company’s diversified fleet of power plants generally produced about half of its electricity from nuclear, 35 percent from coal, and 15 percent from natural gas, according to Izzo. Last year, with the lower natural gas prices, 35 percent of the power came from that fuel, with about 15 percent coming from coal-fired generation, according to Izzo.

The falling energy prices from power plants led to a drop in earnings from its subsidiary, PSEG Power, which saw its annual earnings drop to $843 million, compared with $1.1 billion the previous year.

Meanwhile, New Jersey's largest power supplier is still mulling over its options in the wake of a ruling by the state Department of Environmental Protection that could shut down approximately 2,800 megawatts of capacity that provides electricity during times of peak demand.

Continue reading this story in NJ Spotlight.

NJ Spotlight is an online news service providing insight and information on issues critical to New Jersey.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here