LAKELAND City officials gave a thumbs up to Lakeland Electric s plan to begin shutting down its aging coal plant this March, after the utility calculated the early shutdown could save $13.1 million over the next three years.
Lakeland s utility committee unanimously approved a recommendation by Lakeland Electric to begin decommissioning its coal-burning C.D. McIntosh Unit on March 31. The plans will go before the City Commission for final approval on Jan. 19. It makes no sense to continue spending money on coal-based operation past March, he said.
On March 31, Lakeland Electric aims to kick off a five-month transition and shutdown process to gradually end power generation. Ivy said that date could be pushed back a few weeks if needed to burn through the city s coal reserves.
It s been all about the economics, Ivy said. There s a compelling case made to go through with the shutdown.
Lakeland Electric has faced a series of problems with the aging coal-powered plant that kept it offline, not producing power for most of the summer. It started in May when an unspecified electrical problem caused an outage at Unit 3 for approximately 14 hours, according to Lakeland Electric spokesperson Cathryn Lacy.
Less than a day later, utility workers discovered the plant’s bearings for the main boiler feed pump and turbine generator were damaged, Lacy said. Lakeland Electric had to send the parts off-site to be reworked. This led to Unit 3 being shut down from May 13 to Aug. 24.