The smokestack (right) at the coal-fired White Bluff power plant near Redfield sends up a column of smoke as steam rises from the plant’s cooling towers in this 2009 photo. ( Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / Benjamin Krain

Entergy Arkansas will close the state's two largest coal-fired generating plants and a natural gas plant, per a settlement reached with environmental groups long critical of those coal plants' lack of modern emissions controls.

On Friday morning, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging the company has been violating the Clean Air Act. The Sierra Club and Entergy entered into a settlement later in the morning.

The 1,700-megawatt coal plants in Jefferson and Independence counties will close by 2028 and 2030, respectively, and the Lake Catherine natural gas plant will close by 2027, under the settlement.

Document Entergy settlement agreement View

The coal plant closures mean the utility will continue turning away from coal power, as natural gas and solar power have become more financially viable power source options nationwide despite support of coal power by President Donald Trump and others. The closure of Lake Catherine signifies the reduction of an energy source the utility has increasingly relied upon.

Document Sierra Club lawsuit View

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.