Fla. municipal utility to retire Stanton unit 1 by 2025, convert unit 2 by 2027

A municipal utility in Florida has been granted approval by its board of commissioners to retire unit 1 at the Stanton coal-fired plant by 2025 and convert its unit 2 to natural gas by 2027.

Stanton 1, the Orlando Utilities Commission's oldest coal-fired unit, had previously been slated for conversion to natural gas, the utility announced in a Dec. 15 news release. The 464.5-MW unit came online in July 1987, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Stanton 2 also has a nameplate capacity of 464.5 MW and the unit achieved operations in June 1996.

This comes after the Orlando Utilities Commission leadership recommended in December 2020 to significantly reduce the utility's use of coal by 2025 and eliminate it entirely by 2027.

The retirement of unit 1 became possible with the recent purchase of the Osceola Generating Station, a 510-MW simple-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Osceola County, the utility said.

As the Orlando Utilities Commission increases its reliance on solar energy, Osceola will be used to mitigate solar production fluctuations to maintain systemwide electric reliability, according to the release. The facility is undergoing renovations and testing and will be fully operational by 2025.

The board's approval is "further proof of our commitment to meet our goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 with interim targets of 50% by 2030 and 75% in 2040," Orlando Utilities Commission General Manager and CEO Clint Bullock said in the release.