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ENERGY/INFRASTRUCTURE
Redevelopment of Former Coal Plant Sites Industrial real estate firms are joining environmental investors to redevelop former coal plant sites in an effort to breathe new life into the communities where they are located. By Kerry Smith, Informationworks
alternate energy sources such as natural gas, subsidized solar and wind energy, continued compliance with federal energy regulations, and public concern over coal’s effect on climate change. The decommissioning of U.S. coal-fired power plants, according to the U.S. EIA, is not limited to any one state nor to any one type of coal. The three largest coal plants to cease operation in 2019 were in Pennsylvania (FirstEnergy Bruce Mansfield), Arizona (Navajo), and Alabama (Gorgas). Environmental Liability Transfer (ELT), which acquired the Meredosia Power Station in November 2019, anticipates a two-year time frame to remediate and repurpose the 75-acre site.
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oal-fired power plants across the United States shut down in 2019 at the second-fastest pace on record. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), plants with a combined total of more than 15,100 megawatts ceased operating nationwide last year — enough to power 15 million homes, and second only to the number of megawatts retired during 2015. The reasons behind these closures are many: decreasing wholesale prices, competition from comparatively cheap and plentiful
Energy Companies Seek Out Industry Experts With even more coal-fired plants projected to come offline in 2020 and beyond, energy companies are seeking industry experts in the decommissioning, site remediation, sales, and redevelopment of these sites. For example, Southern Illinois-based industrial real estate brokerage firm BARBERMURPHY is actively working with coal-fired power plant owners, environmental remediation companies, and others to assist in the decommissioning, sale, and redevelopment of these sites. BARBERMURPHY principal and broker Steve Zuber, SIOR, has been working with St. Louisbased Commercial Development
Company (CDC) in the disposition and repurposing of these plants, most recently the Meredosia Power Station (formerly owned and operated by Ameren Energy Medina Valley Cogen LLC) located 100 miles west of Springfield, Ill. Commercial Development Company’s affiliate, Environmental Liability Transfer (ELT), acquired the plant in November 2019 and anticipates a two-year time frame to remediate and repurpose the 75acre site, which operated as a power plant from 1948 through mid-2011. Permitting, asbestos abatement, waste removal, environmental remediation and restoration, liquidation of surplus machinery and equipment, and demolition of most of the Meredosia plant’s infrastructure is included in ELT’s scope of work. Since 2014, the firm has assumed and abated nearly $2 billion in corporate environmental liability. “BARBERMURPHY is intently involved in the disposition and repurposing of this site,” Zuber says. “The existing substation and power grid will remain intact, which is a plus for users with high energy requirements. We’re looking at a wide array of different industrial users that can utilize this site, from solar energy producers that want to tie into the power grid to heavy manuAREA DEVELOPMENT | Q2 2020
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