Ricky Junquera, Sierra Club press secretary: (617) 599-7048
Owensboro, KY - Sierra Club today applauded the Owensboro Municipal Utilities Commission for voting to retire the second unit of its Elmer Smith coal-burning power plant. This announced closure will retire the Elmer Smith plant in its entirety prior to 2023, as a 2019 retirement date for Unit 1 was announced in 2015.
The 53-year-old Elmer Smith plant was identified by the Environmental Integrity Project in 2007 as one of America’s most polluting power plants, based on the pollution it produced for each unit of electricity generated. Elmer Smith was 9th dirtiest in carbon emissions per megawatt hour and 12th dirtiest in nitrogen oxides -- a dangerous contributor to smog pollution.
According to a 2010 Clean Air Task Force study, Elmer Smith contributes to 171 asthma attacks, as well as 10 deaths, 16 heart attacks and will save $4.8 million in healthcare costs each year. Owensboro’s asthma rate is 13 percent, compared to a statewide rate of 9.5 percent.
Sierra Club’s Pennyrile Group of the Cumberland Chapter and its Beyond Coal Campaign applauded Owensboro Municipal Utilities’ (OMU) announcement retiring Elmer Smith’s 285 MW Unit Two. OMU’s decision came just a week after dozens of local residents packed a presentation by OMU General Manager Terry Naulty at Kentucky Wesleyan College in support of replacing Elmer Smith with solar energy.
“By ceasing to use coal as the fuel of choice and moving toward safer sources of power, OMU is providing positive leadership for Owensboro,” said Mary Cupp, chair of the Pennyrile Group of the Sierra Club. “In addition, OMU can and should incorporate as much wind, solar and hydro as is possible without jeopardizing reliability or dramatically increasing costs. Incorporating these emission-free energy sources of the future not only provides tremendous health benefits, but also signals that Owensboro is a progressive, forward-thinking community.”
This plant closure accounts for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign’s 249th announced coal plant closure since 2010.