The company that operates several coal-fired power plants in central and southern Illinois announced Tuesday it would shut down units one and three at the Baldwin Power Station.
The shutdown will occur over the next year, according to a Dynegy statement. Company spokesman Micah Hirschfield said approximately 122 current jobs plus any vacant open positions will be lost.
Baldwin’s unit two will remain in operation.
“This is a difficult decision, and we don’t take it lightly. For 40 years, the employees of the Baldwin and Newton Power Stations have generated reliable and affordable power for the people of Illinois,” Dynegy CEO Robert C. Flexon said in the statement.
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Dynegy blames the shutdown on electricity prices set too low for the plants to recover their operating costs. Electricity rates in the region are set via capacity auctions.
A unit at the Newton Power Station near Newton in Jasper County also will be shut down.
The company has notified the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which operates the power grid in central and southern Illinois, of the shutdowns that will take a total of 1,835 megawatts of generating capacity offline.
Hirshcfield said the next step in the process is for MISO to conduct a study to determine whether the grid can handle the loss of capacity. If it can, the shutdowns will go forward. If it cannot, MISO and Dynegy will negotiate a deal to keep the units online.
Dynegy announced late last year that the Wood River Power Station in Alton would retire in June with a loss of 90 jobs.
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