ALTON, Ill. (AP) – Dynegy says it’s closing its Wood River Power Station in southern Illinois because of economic reasons.
The company said in a news release Wednesday that it’s closing the 465-megawatt facility in Alton because of its “uneconomic operation” in a “poorly designed wholesale capacity market” in central and southern Illinois. That system, the company said, doesn’t allow generators to recover costs.
The facility has to compete in capacity auctions, Dynegy said, with plants in other states with regulated markets and higher guaranteed compensation.
Dynegy said that it hopes to minimize the closure’s impact on about 90 people who work at the facility, which has two coal-fueled units that went into operation in 1954 and 1964.
According to Dynegy, the facility will close in mid-2016 if it’s approved by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which runs electricity capacity auctions.
