Entergy Arkansas will close the state's two largest coal-fired plants and a 50-year-old natural-gas plant by the end of 2030, according to a settlement agreement approved Thursday by a federal judge.
Under the settlement, the utility must stop all coal combustion at White Bluff Power Plant in Redfield by the end of 2028 and at Independence Power Plant by the end of 2030 as well as all operations of units at Lake Catherine by the end 2027.
Entergy, as part of the settlement, will start using only low-sulfur coal at the White Bluff and Independence plants by June 30 of this year, company officials said.
Environmental groups and utility officials both said the agreement would save customers billions by avoiding needed emissions improvements at the plants while also increasing investment in renewable energy.
"The settlement finalized today shows that our agreement to close massive polluting power plants is a win, win, win for Arkansans," Glen Hooks, the Sierra Club's Arkansas Chapter director, said in a statement Thursday.
The Sierra Club, along with the National Parks Conservation Association, sued Entergy in 2018 for violating provisions of the federal Clean Air Act when it undertook projects in 2009 at the coal-fired plants without obtaining proper permits. Entergy maintained that it was in compliance with the act.
"This final ruling is an affirmation of our plans for the future," said Kurt Castleberry, director of resource, planning and market operations for Entergy Arkansas. "It allows us to move forward with implementing measures to comply with the Arkansas State Implementation Plan that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved in 2018."
Entergy Arkansas proposed the settlement in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas in late 2018, but Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a motion to intervene in that case. In a filing with the Public Service Commission that December, Rutledge raised concerns about how the settlement could affect customers' electricity bills.
Rutledge said Thursday through a spokeswoman that she is disappointed with the court's decision.
"Customers must be able to rely on their electric provider to protect their interests and to reliably meet energy demands during weather events such as the one our state endured last month," she said. "My office will continue to work with the Public Service Commission to protect ratepayers from paying the price for Entergy Arkansas's agreement to prematurely close these plants."
Hooks and Entergy Arkansas officials said the agreement will save utility customers up to $2 billion. Under the Clean Air Act's regional haze program, the White Bluff and Independence plants would need emissions control technologies installed this year, which would increase customer rates, Castleberry said. However, the company will avoid this requirement under the settlement.
Castleberry said the settlement also eliminates the cost and uncertainty of any potential litigation associated with the White Bluff and Independence plants.
Because the settlement was announced in 2018 and continues over most of the next decade, there is time for a predictable transition for employees of the plants, communications manager Kacee Kirschvink said.
"We have continued job and career-planning opportunities for employees at the plants beyond 2021," she said in an email. "Not only does this ruling help further reduce carbon emissions, it also provides certainty with a timeline for the company to continue helping affected employees."
These plants rank among the top 10 in harmful sulfur-dioxide emissions and top 40 in nitrogen-oxide emissions out of more than 1,300 power plants across the United States, according to the 2018 Benchmarking Air Emissions report by M.J. Bradley and Associates. The two coal-fired plants have been linked to increased levels of ozone smog, harming communities in St. Louis and Memphis, according to 2011 Ozone Impact studies by Sonoma Technology Inc.
"For too long, Arkansas' White Bluff and Independence coal plants have spewed pollution into surrounding communities and public lands like the Buffalo National River and Caney Creek Wilderness, while contributing to climate change," Stephanie Kodish, clean air and climate programs director and counsel for the National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement Thursday. "As climate change is the number one threat facing our communities and national parks, now is the time to transition to clean energy in a just and equitable manner to combat the climate crisis and provide a safer future for people and our parks."
The terms of the settlement will boost local economies by increasing renewable energy investments and resources, Hooks and Kodish said.
Entergy agreed to pursue approval for 800 megawatts of renewable energy from the Arkansas Public Service Commission no later than 2027. That process is already underway, according to the Sierra Club.
Hooks said he would like to see Entergy Arkansas accelerate the closure of these plants.
"It will save lives," he said. "Replacing electric capacity with renewable energy and energy efficiency is the cleanest, safest and most affordable way for Entergy Arkansas to power its customers."
Entergy is always evaluating resource options, and if it's possible to move up the dates agreed on in the settlement, it will consider doing so, Kirschvink said.
"Entergy Arkansas has and continues to develop its diverse energy portfolio to provide the lowest-cost energy for our customers," Castleberry said. "We provide a variety of generation resources to keep costs as low as possible. This settlement allows Entergy Arkansas to continue to transition to cleaner, low cost generation resources to replace the two coal plants."