Photo: Sam Larussa | Unsplash
PacifiCorp is turning away from fossil fuels. The parent company to Rocky Mountain Power, the state's biggest electric utility, announced Friday that its biennial Integrated Resource Plan is expected to include substantial investment in renewables and no new investment in coal or natural gas. PacifiCorp plans to retire 14 of its 22 active coal units by 2020 and another 5 by 2040, with the remaining three shuttered shortly afterward. Two coal units would be converted to natural gas units in 2024. All of PacifiCorp's coal plants would be offline by 2039. The Integrated Resource Plan reflects the fact that PacifiCorp recognizes it needs to move away from fossil fuels. So there is a real move here, a really significant move here, said Rob Godby, an associate professor of economics at the University of Wyoming. Compared with a 2005 baseline, system carbon dioxide emissions would be down 53% in 2025, 74% in 2030, and 92% in 2040.
|
|
More:
