Western Railroad Discussion > New Mexico Escalente Coal Power Plant to Shut Down

Headline excerpt from the ABQ Journal:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association announced Thursday that it will shut down its 253 megawatt coal-fired generating station near Grants by the end of 2020 as part of the wholesale electric supplier’s efforts to transition to a clean energy grid over the next decade. The closure will eliminate 107 jobs at the plant, and potentially scores more at a nearby coal mine that supplies fuel for the generating station. Escalante was built to operate through 2045, but Tri-State is closing it 25 years early as part of a broad plan to eliminate all of the association’s coal-fired generation in New Mexico and Colorado to meet new regulations in both states that mandate a transition to a carbon-free grid.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1408313/latest-business-news-107.html

The plant is located at Prewitt and coal is mined at a nearby mine and hauled by rail. I don't know whether there is another consumer for the coal at the mine or if it will shutter too. BNSF has a spur to the plant and mine but I don't know whether coal goes in or comes out on it. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 06:59 by Cumbresfan.

Good news!

YardLimit Wrote:
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> Good news!

I am guessing you aren't an employee of the power plant or coal mine, if that was the case this wouldn't be good news at all, instead your entire life is going to change.

YardLimit Wrote:
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> Good news!

Really?  107 jobs lost at the plant and probably more at the mine.  Doesn't sound like good news to me.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
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> The plant is located at Prewitt and coal is mined
> at a nearby mine and hauled by rail. I don't know
> whether there is another consumer for the coal at
> the mine or if it will shutter too. BNSF has a
> spur to the plant and mine but I don't know
> whether coal goes in or comes out on it. 

I have caught a couple of trains on this line on two visits to the area. In April 2012, I was fortunate to catch this BNSF loaded train from the El Segundo mine heading to the mainline connection at West Baca. TO member Amtrak34East was my guide for the day. IIRC, this train was headed for a Tucson Electric and Power plant in Arizona. The following October, I caught this Escalante Western train headed to the plant at Prewitt. I have no idea if BNSF is still taking loads out.

Kim Heusel

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Ohhhh, if Todd only offered a free year for blowing up ignorant posts. But he doesn't, so I won't.

Posted from Android

ShortlinesUSA Wrote:
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> Ohhhh, if Todd only offered a free year for
> blowing up ignorant posts. But he doesn't, so I
> won't.
>

There's nothing ignorant about it. Slightly insensitive maybe... You could argue the opposite view is the ignorant one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 10:55 by exhaustED.

A lot of good, hard working Americans again losing their jobs in another economically depressed part of the country. Fortunately BNSF still does have coal trains coming out of El Segundo Mine, coal bound for Springerville, AZ, Joseph City, AZ and Cochise, AZ, that are loaded by my contractor employer. I feel for the 5 employees of the ESWR who have to find another career, along with some of the employees at El Segundo Mine who may have to do the same. A lot of good people in this part of the world, trust me, I worked and bonded with them for almost 4 years I was the supervisor for said contractor at El Segundo Mine. Get your shots of the ESWR now while you can, class operation. The bad news is that they are not running at all during the month of January. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 10:52 by amtrak34east.

Problem is that Joseph City has been announced for shutdown as well. Hey but, those 107 and the other 75 or so at the mine can learn coding!

Out 

Sad news for everyone involved. The Navajo nation will lose a significant revenue flow.

Posted from Android

I don't care for posts only made to annoy and elicit a response.  As far as the shift in energy policies for environmental, political or economic reasons 20-30 years may be a better time to judge whether it is good news.

Bob Jordan

 

3 shots of the ESWR around Lee Ranch Jct, 2012 and 2013. 

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but Tri-State is closing it 25 years early as part of a broad plan to eliminate all of the association’s coal-fired generation in New Mexico and Colorado to meet new regulations in both states that mandate a transition to a carbon-free grid.


 Watch one of the usual lib shills try to get this thread pulled, since they are always claiming it isn't regulations that are forcing plants to close, it's...(excuse of the moment.)  An article with inconvenient facts must be pulled or buried.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 11:42 by darkcloud.

Why is it inconvenient that regulations are causing closures?

I don't like the closings at all.  People losing jobs is awful and the possibility of facing higher electricty bills is not good either.

tomstp Wrote:
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> I don't like the closings at all.  People losing
> jobs is awful and the possibility of facing higher
> electricty bills is not good either.

New Mexico electric rates are in the lowest third of the US states, at 9.35 cents, while Arizona is at the bottom of the top third, at 10.85 cents. The national average is 10.53 cents.

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if NM is importing some very cheap wind power from Texas and Oklahoma, both of which are in the 8 cents range.

http://www.neo.ne.gov/programs/stats/inf/204.htm

amtrak34east Wrote:
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> 3 shots of the ESWR around Lee Ranch Jct, 2012 and
> 2013. 
Killer shots! Thanks for sharing them.

Kim Heusel

tomstp Wrote:
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> I don't like the closings at all.  People losing
> jobs is awful and the possibility of facing higher
> electricty bills is not good either.

How about the possibility of catastrophic climate change... or is that fake news to you?

235 MW is not a significantly large loss of generation. The largest wind farm (Tehachapi region) is 1550 MW, largest solar farm (Kings Co. CA) is 2700 MW.

Texas has so much wind power available overnight that they sometimes will sell it on the market for near zero.

(I've lost my job three times over a 40-year career to the changing work environment, so I am well sympathetic to the folks facing that)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/20 13:16 by 2-10-2.

2-10-2 Wrote:
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> 235 MW is not a significantly large loss of
> generation. The largest wind farm (Tehachapi
> region) is 1550 MW, largest solar farm (Kings Co.
> CA) is 2700 MW.
>
> Texas has so much wind power available overnight
> that they sometimes will sell it on the market for
> near zero.
>
> (I've lost my job three times over a 40-year
> career to the changing work environment, so I am
> well sympathetic to the folks facing that)

Yes. 

The new Berkshire Hathaway wind project at Medicine Bow WY will have 3x the power output of the Escalante plant.  There's a lot of wind power, and it's affecting how mega-users  like data centers are planning their peak operations