Harrington Station
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Harrington Station is an operating power station of at least 1080-megawatts (MW) in Amarillo, Potter, Texas, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Harrington Station | Amarillo, Potter, Texas, United States | 35.299289, -101.747361 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3: 35.299289, -101.747361
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | operating | coal - subbituminous, fossil gas - natural gas | 360 | subcritical | – | 1976 | 2025 (planned) |
| Unit 2 | operating | coal - subbituminous, fossil gas - natural gas | 360 | subcritical | – | 1978 | 2025 (planned) |
| Unit 3 | operating | coal - subbituminous, fossil gas - natural gas | 360 | subcritical | – | 1980 | 2025 (planned) |
CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner |
|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Southwestern Public Service Co [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Southwestern Public Service Co [100.0%] |
| Unit 3 | Southwestern Public Service Co [100.0%] |
Conversion to Natural Gas
In October 2020, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved an "Agreed Enforcement Order" with Xcel Energy. Xcel violated the air quality standards at its Harrington Station. As part of the agreement, Xcel must convert the plant to natural gas and stop using coal as source of fuel before January 2025.[1]
In July 2022, the conversion plan was filed for final consideration by state regulators. Included in the findings were that the project will cost around $70 million and include the development of 20 miles of gas pipeline to the facility.[2]
Legal challenge over pollution control at 8 Texas coal plants
In October 2022, the Environment Integrity Project and the Sierra Club filed legal action against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the effective exemption of 8 coal plants from fine particle pollution control standards.[3] According to the lawsuit, the EPA failed to approve an amendment to Texas' State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. By neither approving nor rejecting the new SIP by the statutory deadline, the coal power stations were free to continue emitting dangerous levels of pollution for “for hundreds and in some cases thousands of hours each year.”[4]
The legal action was targeted at 8 coal plants: Pirkey Power Plant, Fayette Power Project, Martin Lake Steam Station, Limestone Generating Station, San Miguel Electric Cooperative, Harrington Station, Gibbons Creek Steam Station, and Oklaunion Power Station.[5]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 8,454,511 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 21,235 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 13,228 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 289 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Harrington Station
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[6] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[7]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Harrington Station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 15 | $110,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 23 | $2,500,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 260 | $13,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 11 | $250,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 9 | $4,200,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 15 | $6,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ "TCEQ Gives Xcel a 4-year Free Pass to Violate Pollution Safeguards" Sierraclub.org , October 21, 2020
- ↑ "Xcel’s Harrington power station conversion from coal to natural gas in final consideration" News Channel 10, July 27, 2022
- ↑ "Coal-fired plants in Texas bypassing pollution controls, lawsuit says", Reuters, October 11, 2022
- ↑ "Environmental Integrity Project v. Michael Regan: Civil Action No. 1:22-cv-3063", United States District Court for the District of Columbia, filed October 10, 2022
- ↑ "Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Pollution From Eight Texas Coal Plants", Environmental Integrity Project, October 10, 2022
- ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of gas-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
