Two Ohio coal plants to close

An electric utility company is closing two coal-fired power plants by next year, citing economic conditions.

Dayton Power & Light, a subsidiary of utility giant AES Corp., announced on Monday the closure of the J.M. Stuart and Killen generating stations, following a monthslong review of the plants.

They are the latest in a string of hundreds of coal-fired power plants announcing closure in recent years.

“Along with our co-owners of the plants, we have completed a thorough review of our options and it has become clear that, without significant changes in market conditions, the plants will not be economically viable beyond mid-2018,” Dayton Power said in a statement about the plants that sit along the Ohio River in the southern part of the state.

{mosads}As coal tries to stay viable, it is competing against cheap and abundant natural gas, new environmental regulations and environmental activists.

Despite that, President Trump has promised numerous times to lift the fortunes of coal mining and the power generating companies that use the fuel.

He is expected soon to sign an executive order to start rolling back numerous Obama administration policies that have hurt the industry, such as the Clean Power Plan and the moratorium on new coal-mining leases on federal land.

The Sierra Club, which works through its Beyond Coal project to shut down power plants, celebrated Monday’s announcement.

“These coal plants are unable to compete against the cleaner, cheaper options demanded by customers to meet their energy needs,” Dan Sawmiller, Ohio representative for the Beyond Coal campaign, said in a statement.

“Today’s announcement underscores the profound national trend away from coal, and it remains critical that the needs of the workers and the communities affected by these decisions are appropriately addressed,” he said.