Dolet Hills power station
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Dolet Hills power station is a retired power station in Mansfield, De Soto, Louisiana, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Dolet Hills power station | Mansfield, De Soto, Louisiana, United States | 32.031061, -93.568842 (exact) |
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1: 32.031061, -93.568842
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Retired | coal: lignite | 720.8 | subcritical | 1986 | 2021 |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | unknown [3%]; Northeast Texas Electric Cooperative Inc [5%]; Cleco Power LLC [50%]; Southwestern Electric Power Co [40%] | Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC [50.0%]; American Electric Power Company Inc [40.2%]; unknown [3.9%]; Bowie-Cass Electric Cooperative; Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative Inc; Panola-Harrison Electric Cooperative; Upshur Rural Electric Cooperative; Wood County Electric Cooperative |
Plant Retirement
On Janaury 10 of 2020 it was reported that SWEPCO would file for regulatory approval before closing its coal-fired Dolet Hills power station by the end of 2026. The proposed closure is part of an agreement with the Sierra Club which will withdraw its legal challenges over Dolet Hills.[1]
S&P global reported on May 13, 2020 that Cleco and Swepco could retire the plant before the end of 2021, five years ahead of schedule. On May 12, Cleco filed its 10-Q form that stated that in April the utility announced its intent to seek regulatory approval to retire the Dolet Hills power station at the end of 2021, subject to recovery mechanisms. The decision was made because the Dolet Hills Lignite Co had determined that they would not proceed with developing additional mining areas for future lignite extraction. Dolet Hills Lignite Co provided all the lignite to the power plant.[2]
In November 2021, Cleco and SWEPCO expected to retire Dolet Hills on December 31, 2021 as part of their efforts to reduce costs. Since 2019, the facility had operated seasonally. In 2021, the plant ended seasonal operations in October and took its last coal delivery that month, Cleco said.[3]
Reduced Runtime
In January 2019, Cleco agreed to immediately reduce the operation of the Dolet Hills coal plant to operate only in the summer months.[4]
Overcharges Court Case
According to reporting from February 2024, a judge recommended that Cleco Power and SWEPCO refund US$183.3 million charged to consumers in Louisiana for power from the Dolet Hills plant. In the last two years of the plant's operation, the utilities allegedly overcharged consumers to cover the costs of stranded coal assets, increasing the price of power from US$4 per megawatt-hour (MWh) to more than US$13 per MWh.[5]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 5,594,656 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 20,908 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 10,891 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 235 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Dolet Hills power 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 the Dolet Hills power station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 10 | $73,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 15 | $1,600,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 170 | $9,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 7 | $170,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 6 | $2,700,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 11 | $4,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Coal waste Sites
- Dolet Hills Power Station Ash Basin Number 1
- Dolet Hills Power Station Ash Basin Number 2
- Dolet Hills Power Station Auxiliary Surge Pond
- Dolet Hills Power Station Secondary Basin
- Dolet Hills Power Station Surge Pond
- Dolet Hills Power Station Surge Pond Number 2
Dolet Hills ranked 86th on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste
In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill.[8] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[9]
Dolet Hills ranked number 86 on the list, with 291,208 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[8]
Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Louisiana, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that is not currently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report, in an attempt to pressure the EPA to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites.[10] The report mentioned Louisiana based Big Cajun II Power Plant, Dolet Hills Power Station and the Rodemacher Power Station were three sites that have groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.[11]
Citizen groups
- Alliance for Affordable Energy
- Gulf Restoration Network
- Louisiana Environmental Action Network
- Sierra Club Delta Chapter
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ "SWEPCO seeking regulatory approval to close lignite-fueled Dolet Hills Power Station" Power-eng.com, January 10, 2020
- ↑ "SWEPCO, Cleco eye 2021 retirement of Dolet Hills coal plant in Louisiana" S&P Global, May 13, 2020
- ↑ "Cleco, SWEPCO to close Louisiana coal plant early," Argus Media, November 1, 2021
- ↑ "Sierra Club Secures Cleco Commitment to Replace Uneconomic Coal-Burning Generation and build Clean Energy," Sierra Club, January 16, 2019
- ↑ "Coal's Expensive Last Days in Louisiana: The Fight Over a Pile of Coal at Dolet Hills," The Watchdog, February 1, 2024
- ↑ "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
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sue Sturgis, "Coal's ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?," Institute for Southern Studies, January 4, 2009.
- ↑ TRI Explorer, EPA, accessed January 2009.
- ↑ "Study of coal ash sites finds extensive water contamination" Renee Schoff, Miami Herald, August 26, 2010.
- ↑ "Enviro groups: ND, SD coal ash polluting water" Associated Press, August 24, 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.
