Crane Generating Station

From Global Energy Monitor
Part of the
Global Coal Plant Tracker,
a Global Energy Monitor project.
Download full dataset
Report an error
Related coal trackers:

Crane Generating Station is a retired power station in Chase, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is also known as C.P. Crane Generating Station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Crane Generating Station Chase, Baltimore, Maryland, United States 39.323603, -76.365139 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

Loading map...


Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1, Unit 2: 39.323603, -76.365139

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 1 retired coal - subbituminous 190.4 subcritical 1961 2018
Unit 2 retired coal - subbituminous 209.4 subcritical 1963 2018

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner
Unit 1 C.P. Crane LLC [100.0%]
Unit 2 C.P. Crane LLC [100.0%]

Unit Retirements

In November 2016 owner Avenue Capital Group LLC filed a deactivation notice with PJM Interconnection, announcing that it plans to stop burning coal at the plant in June 2018.[1]

In 2019 it was reported that Avenue Capital Group was working on plans to restart the power station and convert it to natural gas.[2]

Ownership

The plant was originally constructed by a predecessor company of Constellation Energy, which was later purchased by Exelon in 2012. On August 9, 2012, Exelon announced that it had reached an agreement, subject to regulatory approvals, for the sale of the Crane Generating Station, Brandon Shores Generating Station, and Herbert Wagner Generating Station to Raven Power Holdings LLC, a newly formed portfolio company of Riverstone Holdings LLC, for approximately US$400 million. Exelon committed to divest the plants as condition for regulatory approval of its merger with Constellation Energy to alleviate concerns regarding potential market power in the regional wholesale electricity market.[3]

Talen Energy assumed ownership of the plant on June 1, 2015 when the company was established as the combination of Riverstone Holdings, LLC with PPL Corporation's spun off power generation business. As a condition of the merger, Talen was required by FERC to sell about 1,300 MW of generation in the PJM region to avoid dominating the market.[4] Talen announced on October 23, 2015 that the C.P. Crane plant would be sold in early 2016 to an affiliate of Avenue Capital Group as one of its divestitures to fulfill the FERC order.[5] The sale was completed on February 16, 2016,[6] at which time the plant began operating as C.P. Crane, LLC.

Emissions Data

  • 2006 CO2 Emissions: 2,240,019 tons
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions:
  • 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
  • 2006 NOx Emissions:
  • 2005 Mercury Emissions:

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Crane Generating 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.[7] 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.[8]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Crane Generating Station

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 59 $430,000,000
Heart attacks 100 $11,000,000
Asthma attacks 960 $50,000
Hospital admissions 46 $1,100,000
Chronic bronchitis 36 $16,000,000
Asthma ER visits 42 $16,000

Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed March 2011

Articles and Resources

References

  1. "Sierra Club Urges Company to Provide Smart Energy Solutions for the Community, Thoughtful Transition for Workers," Sierra Club, November 21, 2016
  2. "Owners of retired Crane coal-fired plant latest to consider gas conversion" power-eng.com, June 21, 2019
  3. Exelon (Aug 9, 2012). "Exelon Agrees to Sell Three Maryland Coal Plants to Raven Power Holdings LLC". Press release. Retrieved on 2012-08-13.
  4. Corporation, Talen Energy. "Talen Energy Debuts as One of the Largest Independent Power Producers in U.S." www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  5. Sun, Baltimore. "Talen selling coal-fired power plant in Baltimore County". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  6. Sun, Baltimore. "Talen Energy sells coal-fired power plant in Middle River". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  7. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  8. "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 coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.