Huntington Power Plant
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Huntington Power Plant is an operating power station of at least 1037-megawatts (MW) in Huntington, Emery, Utah, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Huntington Power Plant | Huntington, Emery, Utah, United States | 39.378786, -111.079314 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2: 39.378786, -111.079314
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | operating | coal - subbituminous | 496 | subcritical | 1974 | 2036 (planned) |
| Unit 2 | operating | coal - subbituminous | 541.3 | subcritical | 1977 | 2036 (planned) |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner |
|---|---|
| Unit 1 | PacifiCorp [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | PacifiCorp [100.0%] |
Background
In 2016, the Hunter power station and the Huntington power station were subject to an Environmental Protection Agency plan requiring the plants to slash emissions. The projects were targeted because of their impact on visibility at the Grand Canyon National Park, along with five other nearby national parks. The plan was cut by President Donald Trump.[1]
In November 2022, the Biden Administration chose to co-sign the Trump Administration's decision, to great fury from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club. PacifiCorp successfully argued that upgrades at the power station would be economically inefficient.[1]
Planned Retirements
In its March 2023 Integrated Resource Plan, PacifiCorp announced it would bring forward the closure of the Huntington Power Plant from 2036 to 2032.[2]
In April 2024, Rocky Mountain Power and parent company PacifiCorp backtracked on plans to retire the Huntington Power Plant early. Rocky Mountain Power reinstated the original retirement date of 2036 for the plant, attributing the change to developments around the Environmental Protection Agency's Ozone Transport Rule that may allow the plant to continue operating.[3] However, the day before the utility's announcement, the EPA published a consent decree stating that it would issue a federal haze rule for Utah by November 2024. Rocky Mountain Power's two plants in Utah — Huntington Power Plant and Hunter Power Plant — have been significant contributors to regional haze pollution.[4]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 6,133,031 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 17,405 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 11,147 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 50 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Huntington Power Plant
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.[5] 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.[6]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Huntington Power Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 15 | $110,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 22 | $2,500,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 320 | $17,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 10 | $240,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 10 | $4,600,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 13 | $5,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "EPA backs Trump-era plan for air pollution in Mountain West," Greenwire, November 18, 2022
- ↑ "Why is Rocky Mountain Power closing its Utah coal plants? Here’s what we know," Salt Lake Tribune, March 31, 2023
- ↑ "In climate setback, Rocky Mountain now says it plans to burn coal in Utah until 2042," The Salt Lake Tribune, April 1, 2024
- ↑ "Proposed Haze Pollution Consent Decree Sets Schedule to Improve Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Area," Sierra Club, March 29, 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
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.
