Pittsburgh, PA -- FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. announced today that the 42-year-old Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant would retire by June 1, 2021. The 2,510 megawatt coal-fired power plant, located in Beaver County, is the largest in Pennsylvania and until recently, burned over seven million tons of coal annually.

The closure comes after a large fire erupted from the coal plant in January, damaging critical and costly parts of the plant’s pollution control equipment. The plant also contributed coal waste to the Little Blue Run ash impoundment, which contained billions of gallons of coal ash slurry and was forced to begin a multi-decade closure process by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection in 2012 after it was determined that the impoundment had contaminated nearby residential communities.

The retirement announcement comes on the heels of the Trump Administration’s rollback of the Clean Power Plan last week and the potential Department of Energy’s (DOE) federal coal bailout package which could include Bruce Mansfield in addition to various coal and nuclear plants in the PJM region. A federal bailout of this magnitude would require ratepayers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to prop up a plant that is no longer useful and has a significant track record of polluting the surrounding communities.

In response, Tom Schuster, Senior Campaign Representative for Sierra Club, issued the following statement:

“While we’re glad to see a notoriously polluting coal plant cease operations, it is imperative that FirstEnergy ensures the timely and orderly retirement of Bruce Mansfield. FirstEnergy Solutions’ alarmingly stilted release announcing this plant’s retirement was as heartless as it was tone deaf. FirstEnergy must not use their own work force in a jaded attempt to force the federal government to step in. The simple fact that Bruce Mansfield cannot compete without government assistance makes it clear--it should retire.

“Electricity customers deserve truly reliable power and shouldn’t be forced to pay millions of dollars for an outdated and dangerous plant. Rather than throwing away tax dollars by bailing out a broken coal plant, the federal government must recommit to assisting workers and communities that are impacted by coal’s increasing obsolescence.”