The City of Springfield introduced a resolution on January 20th to retire the three oldest coal units at the Dallman coal plant and will hold a special forum on the 29th. These units at CWLP send 1.5 million tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere every year. By retiring units 1-3, CWLP can save ratepayers 200 million dollars over 5 years, stop producing wet coal ash, which is polluting our groundwater, and reduce their carbon emissions by about 60%. Many financial analyses of CWLP have shown that units 1-3 need to be retired. The city hired The Energy Authority (TEA) to run modeling scenarios to show the best way to meet the city's energy needs - each scenario showed that the city should retire units 1-3.
In the potential of unit retirement, Sierra Club supports workers in bargaining for what they need in this transition and for the City of Springfield, as a publicly owned utility, to do the right thing for workers and create a transition plan that provides new opportunities for them.
The meeting will be held in council chambers at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29th on the third floor of Municipal Center West, 300 S. Seventh St. Questions? Email elizabeth.scrafford@sierraclub.org