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NRG unit to retire 3 Calif. gas plants

A unit of NRG Energy Inc. plans to close three gas-fired power plants in Southern California starting this June.

The first to shutter will be Units 3 and 4 of the Etiwanda Generating Station in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., on June 1. The units have a total operating capacity of 640 MW and have been operating since 1963, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Units 1 and 2 are already closed.

The second to close will be the Ormond Beach Generating Station in Oxnard, Calif., on Oct. 1. The 1,516-MW plant, which has been operating since the early 1970s, was due to retire in December 2020 because of California's once-through cooling regulations.

The last planned retirement is the 54-MW Ellwood Generating Station on Jan. 1, 2019. The plant, located in Goleta, Calif., started operating in 1974.

The company's GenOn Energy Inc. unit sent notice of the retirements on Feb. 28 to the California Public Utilities Commission and California ISO. Company spokesman David Knox said the retirements are due to "economic reasons." GenOn is going through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan and is expected to emerge as a separate entity from NRG Energy.

Gladys Limon, executive director of the California Environmental Justice Alliance said the planned retirements are "long overdue" and called for more support from state officials for cleaner energy solutions.

The retirements are the latest in a series of setbacks for gas-fired power plants in California. In January, the CPUC told Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to solicit bids for energy storage and "preferred resources" such as energy efficiency, demand response and distributed solar to "obviate the need" for contracts with three existing Calpine Corp. natural gas-fired power plants. Prior to that, a California Energy Commission committee overseeing the review of NRG Energy's proposed Puente power plant in November 2017 suspended the proceeding in response to the company's request. The 262-MW gas-fired plant in Oxnard, Calif., referred to as the Mandalay Generating Station CT (Puente Power Project), appeared to be headed for rejection by the panel.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in June 2017 put on hold all planned local gas-fired repowering projects until a systemwide independent analysis is conducted on alternatives for meeting the city's electricity needs.