Eastern Railroad Discussion > Sibley RR Bridge and KCP&L Sibley Operating Station

Eastbound UP intermodal train crossed the Sibley Railroad Bridge over the Missouri River at Sibley, Missouri, June 16, 2018.

Sibley Railroad Bridge is a three-span through truss single-track railroad bridge belonging to the BNSF Railway between Jackson County, Missouri, and Ray County, Missouri, at Sibley. BNSF Marceline Subdivision over the Missouri River, only single-track segment of the subdivision. Bridge also is used by Amtrak's Southwest Chief.

After reaching the south bank of the river, the tracks curve west passing Kansas City Power & Light Company's Sibley Operating Station, a coal-fired electrical generating plant. A loop track around the plant permits coal delivery by rail. The plant's 757-foot chimney will be retired after coal fired generating operations cease. Smokestack removal scheduled for 2019. Sibley 1 capacity 48-MW built 1960 scheduled to be retire 31 December 2018.
Sibley 2 capacity 51-MW built 1962 and Sibley 3 364-MW built 1969.

In 2015, KCP&L announced the company was considering retiring the coal units or converting them to an alternative fuel source at these plants. One coal-fired unit at the Lake Road Station was converted to natural gas in 2016. Since that time, several emerging industry trends and changing circumstances led the company to announce its plans to retire the six generating units.

A number of factors contributed to the decision to retire these units, including:

Reduction in wholesale electricity market prices. The value of energy produced by these plants has dropped in recent years, primarily driven by new wind generation and lower natural gas prices.
Near-term capacity needs. KCP&L does not anticipate needing new capacity for many years with expected relatively flat long-term peak load growth. In addition, the amount of reserve generating capacity the company is required to carry has been reduced.
Plant age. The impacted units are older, with all beginning service between 1960-1969. Making costly investments in the units does not make financial sense when compared to other generation sources.
Expected environmental compliance costs. It is not economic to retrofit these plants with the controls necessary to meet expected environmental requirements.

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