Indian River Power Plant Decommissioning May Be Delayed

The planned decommissioning of the Indian River power plant next spring may be delayed.

NRG announced plans in June to deactivate the coal-fired plant and several others in other parts of the country.

This week, PJM Interconnection, operator of the power grid, said it has an established process to review generator retirement requests and determine whether there would be any effects on reliability that would require transmission upgrades. Some upgrades, according to its findings, would take place in the 2026 or 2027 time frame.

PJM is exploring options, including the possibility of requesting that the owner of the unit keep the plant in operation.

A final plan to ensure continued reliability is due by September 28th from PJM, in collaboration with NRG and the local transmission utility. PJM’s analysis also shows that wholesale electricity prices association with deactivating the Indian River plant appear to remain relatively unchanged, as long as appropriate transmission system upgrades are completed.

A report to detail these findings will be supplied to the Delaware Public Service Commission.

The plant employs about 50 people.