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Shippingport's Bruce Mansfield Coal-Fired Plant To Shut Down In 2021

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SHIPPINGPORT (KDKA) -- The largest coal-fired plant in Pennsylvania will soon be retired.

FirstEnergy announced Wednesday evening that the Bruce Mansfield Plant, located in Beaver County, will close by June 2021.

The 2,510 megawatt coal-fired plant, in Shippingport, is the largest in Pennsylvania.

bruce-mansfield-plant
(Photo Credit: KDKA)

Its pollution control equipment was seriously damaged during a fire in January.

Three other FirstEnergy Solutions facilities, all located in Ohio, will also be closing in 2021. For now, all four of them will continue normal operations.

In a press release, Don Moul, president of FES Generation Companies, said in part:

"Our decision to retire the fossil-fueled plants was every bit as difficult as the one we made five months ago to deactivate our nuclear assets. The action in no way reflects on the dedication and work ethic of our employees, nor on the strong support shown by their union leaders and the communities where the plants are located.

"As with nuclear, our fossil-fueled plants face the insurmountable challenge of a market that does not sufficiently value their contribution to the security and flexibility of our power system."

The Beaver Valley Power Station, also in Shippingport, will be shutting down as well. That closure will happen in Oct. 2021.

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