DOE Issues First-Ever Emergency Order to Keep Open a Unit That Is Noncompliant with MATS
http://www.powermag.com/doe-issues-first-ever-emergency-order-to-keep-open-a-unit-that-is-noncompliant-with-mats04/20/2017 by Sonal Patel
The Department of Energy (DOE) issued an unprecedented emergency order on April 14 to keep open a power plant that had been slated for shutdown under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) in a bid to secure electric reliability.
The DOE’s order was issued under the Federal Power Act Section 202(c). It inaugurates the so-called “reliability safety valve” that had been widely discussed since the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) February 2012–finalized rule was still in the draft stage.
Order No. 202-17-1, signed by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, will allow Unit 1, a coal-fired unit at the Grand River Energy Center, which is owned by Oklahoma state agency Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), to keep running until more units are brought online to ensure grid reliability.
“Without sufficient reactive power support, electric system reliability is at risk because excessive voltage could force transmission lines offline, consequently leading to other reliability problems, or could cause electric arcing that would damage transmission facilities,” the order says.
The power plant also houses another coal-fired boiler (Unit 2). A natural gas–fired combined cycle unit (Unit 3) is under construction on-site.
GRDA had planned to retire Unit 1 on April 16, unable to comply with MATS, even after the EPA granted it the maximum two one-year extensions. However, on April 11, GRDA petitioned the DOE for an emergency order to ensure electric system reliability, because Unit 2 was offline for repairs owing to a fire caused by lightning. Construction for Unit 3, it said, was delayed by flooding in Louisiana until mid-July “at the earliest.”...
