HELPER, Utah (AP) — Utah's oldest coal-fired power plant is no longer in operation.
Rocky Mountain Power shut down its 60-year-old Carbon Power Plant near Helper on Wednesday, a day before stricter federal mercury-pollution rules took effect.
Company spokesman Dave Eskelsen told The Salt Lake Tribune that the plant's age and location in a tight canyon made retrofitting the two-unit, 172-megawatt station a losing proposition.
The utility will spend the next two years dismantling the plant, which had not been scheduled to close until 2020.
The plant's closure reflects a national trend away from coal, with its hefty carbon footprint, for generating electricity.
According to the Sierra Club, utilities have closed or announced the retirement of 188 coal-fired plants since 2010, roughly one-third of the nation's coal-burning fleet.
A cleaner gas-fired power plant in Vineyard is replacing the output of the coal-fired plant near Helper.
