Cleco, SWEPCO to close Louisiana coal plant early

Cleco and US power producer American Electric Power (AEP) subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power (SWEPCO) will retire the Dolet Hills coal-fired power plant in Louisiana at the end of this year, five years ahead of schedule.

Cleco and SWEPCO expect to retire Dolet Hills on 31 December as part of their efforts to reduce costs. The 638MW plant was previously scheduled to close in 2026.

Since 2019, the facility has operated seasonally. This year the plant ended seasonal operations on 31 October and took its last coal delivery last month, Cleco said.

"The cost of coal used to operate our Dolet Hills plant in Mansfield has increased to the point that the unit is no longer competitive," Cleco's chief operations officer Robbie LaBorde said in September.

In 2020, Cleco also said that the low market price of power, coupled with the cost of lignite mined at the nearby Oxbow mine was contributing to the Dolet Hills plant being less competitive.

The plant will lay off 54 of its employees.

Cleco, which holds a 50pc stake in Dolet Hills, operates the facility. SWEPCO has 40pc ownership, while the remaining 10pc stake in the plant is held by the North Texas Electric Cooperative and the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority.

In the first seven months of 2021, Dolet Hills received 293,462 short tons (266,224 metric tonnes) of coal from Dolet Hills Lignite company's Oxbow mine in Louisiana, according to US Energy Information Administration data.

By Elena Vasilyeva