Kyger Creek Station
Kyger Creek Station is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation near Gallipolis, Ohio.
Location
Plant Data
- Owner: Ohio Valley Electric Corporation
- Parent Company: American Electric Power (43.47%), Buckeye Power (18%), Duke Energy (9%), FirstEnergy (8.35%), Wolverine Power Cooperative (6.65%), LG&E Energy 5.63%, AES (4.9%), Kentucky Utilities Company 2.5%, Vectren (1.5%)
- Plant Nameplate Capacity: 1,086 MW
- Units and In-Service Dates: 217 MW (1955), 217 MW (1955), 217 MW (1955), 217 MW (1955), 217 MW (1955)
- Location: 5758 Ohio State Rte. 7 North, Gallipolis, OH 45631
- GPS Coordinates: 38.914247, -82.129058
- Coal Consumption:
- Coal Source:
- Number of Employees:
- Unit Retirements:
Ownership
The power station is owned by Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC). As of end-2016, the shareholders and their respective percentages of equity in OVEC are:[1]
- AEP (43.47%)
- Buckeye Power (18%)
- Duke Energy (9%)
- FirstEnergy (8.35%)
- PPL (8.13%)
- Wolverine Power Cooperative (6.65%)
- AES (4.9%)
- Vectren (1.5%)
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 7,167,983 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 67,157 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 17,863 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 385 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Kyger Creek 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.[2] 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.[3]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Kyger Creek Station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 19 | $140,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 29 | $3,200,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 290 | $15,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 13 | $320,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 11 | $4,900,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 15 | $6,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Coal waste
Kyger Creek ranked 29th 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.[4] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[5]
Kyger Creek Station ranked number 29 on the list, with 1,356,475 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[4]
EPA "high hazard" dam
In November 2011, the EPA released a new set of data that revealed 181 “significant” hazard dams in 18 states - more than three times the 60 significant-hazard ponds listed in the original database released in 2009. In addition to the increase in the number of significant hazard-rated ponds, eight previously unrated coal ash ponds were found to be high hazard ponds in information released by the EPA earlier in 2011. Because of the switch in ratings after the EPA inspections, the total number of high hazard ponds has stayed roughly the same at a total of 47 ponds nationwide.[6]
According to the National Inventory of Dams (NID) criteria, “high” hazard coal ash ponds are categorized as such because their failure will likely cause loss of human life. Six states that gained high hazard ponds include:[6]
- Ohio: Kyger Creek Station, Gallipolis: 2 high hazard ponds
Ohio HB 6 and coal subsidies
In May 2019 the Ohio legislature passed House Bill 6 (HB6) which beginning in January 2020 levied a fee of roughly 58 cents per bill for residential customers and 85 cents per 1,000 kilowatt-hour for commercial and industrial customers. Revenues from these fees are being used to subsidize Kyger Creek and another coal-fired plant, Clifty Creek Station in Indiana.[7] Shortly after the passage of HB6 FirstEnergy also announced that it would delay the planned retirement of its coal-fired Sammis Plant in Stratton, Ohio.[8]
In July 2020 Ohio Speaker Larry Householder (R) and four associates were arrested and charged with coordinating a $60 million bribery scheme with FirstEnergy, in return for which Householder included a bailout for two FirstEnergy nuclear power plants as part of HB 6.[9] In August 2020 the Ohio legislature began considering several bills that would partially or completely repeal HB6.[10]
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ "Annual Report 2016, Ohio Valley Electric Corporation, 2016
- ↑ "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
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 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.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ken Ward Jr., "EPA data reveals more dangerous coal ash ponds" Coal Tattoo, Oct. 31, 2011.
- ↑ There’s a lot of important stuff in Ohio House Bill 6 besides the nuclear bailout, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sep. 15, 2020
- ↑ David Roberts, Ohio just passed the worst energy bill of the 21st century, Vox, Jul. 27, 2019
- ↑ Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder arrested in $60M bribery case related to HB6 nuclear bailout, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jul. 21, 2020
- ↑ Capitol Insider: Ohio Senate likely to repeal HB 6 before Election Day, Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 23, 2020
- Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
- Facility Registry System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.
Related SourceWatch Articles
- Existing U.S. Coal Plants
- Ohio and coal
- Ohio Valley Electric Corporation
- American Electric Power
- FirstEnergy
- United States and coal
- Global warming
- Coal
External Articles
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