Brunner Island Power Plant is located in York County, PA, straddling Lancaster County. It is a huge, 1,490 megawatt coal-fired electric generating plant, and has been the target of environmentalists for years. In February 2017, MDN told you that the new owner of the plant (Talen Energy) is investing $100 million to retrofit the plant so it can, at least part of the time, burn Marcellus Shale gas (see York County, PA Electric Plant Begins Using NatGas as Fuel). The plant recently signed an agreement with the state to burn only Marcellus gas during “peak ozone season”–from May 1 through Sept. 30–starting in 2023 (see York, PA Electric Plant to Drop Coal, Burn Only Marcellus Gas). Talen will phase out coal completely by 2028. Until 2023, the plant burns Marcellus gas at various times–hence our interest. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has just levied a $25,000 fine against the plant for shutting down for two days in the dead in the winter. Why is that a problem? Don’t these plants sometimes need to shut down?…
