Newly-released EPA rules will require another round of emissions cuts in coal-fired power plants, but Appalachian Power hopes the deadline can be extended. The new rules are designed to improve the nation’s air quality, but as News/Talk 960’s Evan Jones reports, there are differing views on how successful — or necessary — that will prove to be.
Apco says some older plants across the region will probably close sooner than scheduled as a result of the new EPA standards, and doing so might sometimes strain the electric grid’s current ability to meet all the demand. The utility says the Glen Lyn plant in Giles County, for instance, will close by 2014, because the cost of retrofitting the 90-year old plant to meet the new standards is not cost-effective. More than 4o people work at the Glen Lyn facility.
