Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L), an operator of regulated utilities in the US Midwest, announced plans to retire 900MW of fossil-fired generation by the end of 2019, noting that “wind energy sources have become a much more economic generation resource for the region”.

KCP&L, owned by Missouri-based utility holding company Great Plains Energy, is the latest coal-reliant US utility to disclose plans to shed ageing conventional power plants amid the wave of cheap natural gas and renewables.

The announcement is notable not only for its scale but for its timing, coming immediately after President Donald Trump’s decision to initiate a process to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord.

KCP&L will shutter six generating units at three power plants, all of them built in the 1960s, saying it will make “every reasonable effort” to find new jobs within the company for employees working at the plants.

KCP&L, whose generating fleet comprises 7.5GW of owned and contracted capacity, listed several primary reasons motivating its decision to shut the power plants – all of them underscoring important macro trends in the US power sector.

The reduction in wholesale electricity market prices in recent years have severely undercut the competitiveness of older conventional coal plants, and with options like cheap wind on the table, KCP&L says it does not make financial sense to retrofit such plants to meet “expected” environmental requirements.

Meanwhile, the lack of expected growth for peak power demand means utilities like KCP&L need less new generating capacity.

KCP&L is already one of the largest buyers of wind power among US utilities. While the company did not disclose plans to add more wind, it is the sole off-taker for NextEra Energy Resources’ 201MW Osborn wind farm, completed at the 2016 with GE 2.3-116 turbines, and for Enel Green Power’s 300MW Rock Creek project, which is under construction using Vestas V110-2.0 machines and due on line later this year. Both wind farms are in Missouri.

By the end of 2017 KCP&L will have nearly 1.5GW of wind on its system, most of it procured from developers like NextEra and Enel, which will put it close to a top five ranking among US utilities.

“When these power plants started operation more than 50 years ago, coal was the primary means of producing energy,” says Great Plains chief executive Terry Bassham. “Today, as part of our diverse portfolio, we have cleaner ways to generate the energy our customers need.”

“After considering many options, it is clear that retiring units at Montrose, Lake Road and Sibley is the most cost-effective way to meet our customers’ energy needs as we continue to move to a more sustainable energy future.”

Last year Great Plains offered to acquire Kansas-based Westar, an even larger buyer of wind power, but the deal was rejected by Kansas regulators, and the companies' appeal was rejected two weeks ago. Great Plains and Westar, both of which supported the acquisition, say they will consider a "revised transaction".

Transition

Missouri utility KCP&L to retire 900MW of fossil capacity by 2019