---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Oliver Bernstein <oliver.bernstein@sierraclub.org>
Date: Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 4:28 PM
Subject: Fwd: San Antonio's Deely Coal Plant is Closing, Here is the Press Release
To:
COAL-CAMPAIGN-ALERTS@lists.sierraclub.org
---------- Forwarded message ----------
This went out to local press in SA and to national coal press.
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=209362.0
June 20, 2011
Contacts:
Eva Hernandez, Sierra Club,
512-299-1550, or
Ryan Rittenhouse, Public Citizen,
440-796-9695
Sierra Club and Partners Celebrate First Announced Closing of a
Publicly-owned Coal Plant in Texas
San Antonio's Deely Plant Expected to Close by 2018, Replaced by
Clean, Solar Power
San Antonio -- Monday afternoon, San Antonio Mayor Joaquin Castro
announced that City Public Service’s (CPS) Deely coal-fired power
plant will shut down by 2018. Additional solar power contracts for the
San Antonio area will replace that dirty electricity and bring clean
energy jobs to Texas. The planned retirement of the two coal boilers
at Deely marks the 189th and 190th generators to begin plans for
retirement in 2011.
In response to today's announcement, the Sierra Club, SEED Coalition,
and Public Citizen issued the following statement:
The announcement today confirms the new direction taken by CPS Energy
which has committed to meeting 20% of its energy needs through
renewable energy by 2020, and reducing its peak demand through energy
efficiency by 780 megawatts. CPS Energy recently began receiving power
from a 14 MW solar plant in South San Antonio, and has signed a
contract with SunEdison for an additional 30 MWs of solar power.
Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign
stated that, "Today's announcement in Texas shows that cities around
the country are taking strides to move beyond coal. Mayors and
concerned citizens in many states have taken it upon themselves to
prove that solar and other forms of clean energy are ready to replace
dirty and dangerous sources of power to meet our energy needs."
"San Antonio’s decision to phase out the Deely coal plant signals the
beginning of the end of the coal-burning era and its associated air
pollution and illness in Texas,” said Eva Hernandez, with the Sierra
Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “We are ready for Austin to follow suit
and for other municipal utilities, the electric co-ops, retail
electric utilities, and indeed the State of Texas to move forward with
a clean energy economy. This is how we will create more jobs while
breathing cleaner air in Texas.”
However, environmental groups do not support the west Texas Summit
coal plant that could be part of San Antonio’s plan.
“Any purchase of coal power from the Summit coal plant should be
conditional upon phasing out Deely,” said Ryan Rittenhouse of Public
Citizen. “Furthermore, CPS should commit to running Deely's two dirty
coal boilers as little as possible leading up to the phase out.”
The CPS Deely plant is the first publicly-owned coal plant slated for
retirement in Texas.
The Sierra Club has called for the phase-out of the Lower Colorado
River Authority's Fayette coal plant, which is partially-owned by the
City of Austin. The Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign has also called
for the phase-out of several privately owned coal plants:
TXU-Luminant’s Big Brown coal plant in Fairfield, the Martin Lake coal
plant near Henderson, and the Monticello coal plant near Mount
Pleasant. Several recently permitted coal plants in Texas have been
prevented from starting, and three, White Stallion, Las Brisas, and
Tenaska face additional obstacles.
# # #
--
Cheers,
Sean Sarah
Communications Manager (South East & North East)
Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign
C:
330 338-3740
P:
202 548-4589
E:
Sean.Sarah@sierraclub.org
--
Oliver Bernstein
National Communications Strategist
Sierra Club
Phone:
512.477.2152 x102
Cell:
512.289.8618
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