A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel, such as coal or natural gas, to produce electricity. Fossil fuel power stations have machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy, which then operates an electrical generator. The prime mover may be a steam turbine, a gas turbine or, in small plants, a reciprocating gas engine. All plants use the energy extracted from the expansion of a hot gas, either steam or combustion gases. Although different energy conversion methods exist, all thermal power station conversion methods have their efficiency limited by the Carnot efficiency and therefore produce waste heat.
Navajo Generating Station was a 2.25-gigawatt, coal-fired power plant located on the Navajo Nation, near Page, Arizona, United States. This plant provided electrical power to customers in Arizona, Nevada, and California. It also provided the power for pumping Colorado River water for the Central Arizona Project, supplying about 1.5 million acre feet (1.85 km3) of water annually to central and southern Arizona. As of 2017 permission to operate as a conventional coal-fired plant was anticipated until 2017–2019, and to December 22, 2044, if extended. However, in 2017, the utility operators of the power station voted to close the facility when the lease expires in 2019. In March 2019, the Navajo Nation ended efforts to buy the plant and continue running it after the lease expires.
The Acid Rain Program is a market-based initiative taken by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to reduce overall atmospheric levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which cause acid rain. The program is an implementation of emissions trading that primarily targets coal-burning power plants, allowing them to buy and sell emission permits according to individual needs and costs. In 2011, the trading program that existed since 1995 was supplemented by four separate trading programs under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). On August 21, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued its Opinion and Order in the appeal of the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) for two independent legal reasons. The stay on CSAPR was lifted in October 2014, allowing implementation of the law and its trading programs to begin.
Bull Run Fossil Plant, commonly known as Bull Run Steam Plant, is a 889 megawatt (MW), coal-fired electric generating station owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The plant is the only coal fired power plant ever constructed by TVA with one unit, and is expected to close in 2023.
Coal power in the United States generates about 20% of the country's electricity, with 21.84% of the electricity production at utility-scale facilities coming from coal in 2021, down from 38.64% in 2014. Coal supplied 9.5 quadrillion British thermal units (2,800 TWh) of primary energy to electric power plants in 2021, which made up 90% of coal's contribution to U.S. energy supply. Utilities buy more than 90% of the coal consumed in the United States. In 2019 there were 241 coal powered units across the United States. Coal plants have been closing since the 2010s due to cheaper and cleaner natural gas and renewables. But environmentalists say that political action is needed to close them faster, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States to better limit climate change.
Cayuga Generating Station is an electricity-generating facility, located in Eugene Township, Vermillion County, near Cayuga, Indiana. Its almost identical, coal-fired Units 1 and 2 were launched into service in 1970 and 1972, and have a combined name-plate generating capacity of 1,062 MWe. Unit 4 is powered by natural gas, but can also be switched to oil. There are also four minor oil-fired units of internal combustion design. The facility is entirely owned by Duke Energy.
Warrick Generating Station is a 755-MWe coal-fired electricity-generating station, located southeast of Newburgh in Warrick County. It sits on the north bank of Ohio River, downstream of the F. B. Culley Generating Station. The plant has four coal-fired, steam-powered turbines with a combined generating capacity of 791 MWe. Alcoa owns three of the four generating stations, which were placed into service in the early 1960s. The largest unit, known as Unit 4, is 323-MWe unit jointly owned by Alcoa and Vectren. This larger unit was placed in operation in 1970.
The R. Gallagher Generating Station was a four-unit coal-burning power plant located along the Ohio River some two miles (3 km) downstream from New Albany, Indiana in southernmost Floyd County, Indiana. The total aggregate capacity (year-around) of the plant's four identical units was 560MW. Unit 2 began operating in 1958; unit 1 in 1959; unit 3 in 1960 and unit 4 in 1961. In early 2012, both Units 1 and 3 were retired. Units 2 and 4 continued to operate because Duke Energy installed baghouses, greatly reducing the pollution and meeting the current standards set by the EPA. The plant's 2012 output was 280 megawatts. The plant is connected to the grid by 138 and 230 kilovolt transmission lines.
The Big Sandy Power Plant is a 268 megawatt (MW), natural gas power plant owned and operated by Kentucky Power Company, a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), on the shores of the Big Sandy River near Louisa, Kentucky. It was established in 1963. It was formerly a coal-fired power plant, but was converted to natural gas in 2016.
The Kenneth C. Coleman Generating Station is a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by Big Rivers Electric Corporation near Hawesville, Kentucky.
The William C. Dale Power Station is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by East Kentucky Cooperative near Winchester, Kentucky. It is located about 20 miles southeast of Lexington, Kentucky.
The John Sherman Cooper Power Station is a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by the East Kentucky Cooperative near Somerset, Kentucky. It is actually closest to the smaller city of Burnside. It is named after John Sherman Cooper, a US Senator from Kentucky.
The Ghent Generating Station is a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by Kentucky Utilities near Ghent, Kentucky. It is located between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. The plant is connected to the grid by numerous 138 and 345kv transmission lines.
The Mill Creek Generating Station is a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by Louisville Gas & Electric in the Kosmosdale neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. It is located 20 miles southwest of Downtown Louisville.
The East Bend Generating Station is a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by Duke Energy near Rabbit Hash, Kentucky. It is located 10 miles west of Florence, Kentucky. The closest city is Rising Sun, Indiana, which lies to the northwest, across the Ohio River. Originally planned for four units, only unit no. 2 was built and is in commission.
The Elmer Smith Power Plant was a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by the city of Owensboro, Kentucky. Unit 1 opened in 1964 with Unit 2 opening 10 years later in 1974
The Green River Generating Station was a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by Kentucky Utilities, which was removed from service on 30 September 2015. It was located in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.
The Robert D. Green Generating Station is a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by the Big Rivers Electric Cooperation as part of Sebree Station. It is located in the northeast corner of Webster County, Kentucky. It will convert to natural gas in March 2022.
Robert Reid Power Plant is a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by the Big Rivers Electric Cooperation as part of Sebree Station. It is located in the northeast corner Webster County, Kentucky. The plant obtains much of its fuel from coal mines located within just a few miles of the plant itself.
The Paradise Combined Cycle Plant is a natural gas power plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Located just east of Drakesboro, Kentucky, it was the highest power capacity power plant in Kentucky. The plant currently has a capacity of 1.02-gigawatts. The plant originally consisted of three coal units, with a combined capacity of 2,632 MW. Units 1 and 2 were retired in 2017, and replaced with the natural gas units, and Unit 3 was retired in 2020.
