TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Advocacy groups asked the U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday to rescind its emergency order that aimed to keep a coal-fired power plant in Orlando from shutting down.
In a motion for a rehearing, groups including the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund and Florida Rising argued DOE violated federal environmental law in its order and acted outside the scope of its authority. According to the groups, keeping the plant alive could also cause higher utility costs for ratepayers and harmful public health effects.
“There is no good reason to keep this aging coal plant in operation,” Florida Sierra Club organizer Brooke Alexander-Goss said in a press release. “[Orlando Utilities Commission] customers could be forced to pay higher monthly bills to burn one of the utility’s most expensive fuels, despite the availability of cleaner, more affordable energy resources that can already meet our electricity needs.”
DOE issued an emergency order in June that directed the OUC to keep a unit at a coal-fired power plant that was scheduled to enter a “premature extended cold shutdown” available to operate. The emergency order extends through Sept. 1.
