Dive Brief:

• FirstEnergy will close its 1,230-MW Eastlake and 245-MW Lake Shore coal-fired power plants in Ohio this fall, about a year ahead of schedule.
• The plants had been running under “reliability must-run” contracts with PJM and had been expected to be retired in the spring of 2015. Instead they will be closed by mid-September.
• Synchronous condensers will be added to several Eastlake units for voltage support after the plant stops producing electricity.

Dive Insight:

These plants were expected to retire soon and the announcement simply moves the process ahead a year. Even so, it's another step in the changing power plant mix in the Midwest and around the U.S.