St. Johns River Power Park closing clears key regulatory hurdle

Jacksonville, FL — The plan to close the St. Johns River Power Park on Jacksonville’s Northside has now been approved by Florida’s Public Service Commission.

WOKV first told you about the plan in March, when JEA and Florida Power & Light- who jointly own the facility- announced they would shut it by early 2018.

“This has been a great plant that’s served us well during the time that it’s been online, but now, there are more cost effective and cleaner sources of energy that we can use,” says FPL Spokeswoman Sarah Gatewood.

The plant was constructed in the 1980’s and serves as a coal-fired electric generating plant. JEA owns 80% and FPL owns 20%, while also buying a portion of the output from JEA.

JEA has previously said they have excess generating capacity at the Power Park because of effective conservation methods that have been used. FPL says the plant is also costly to operate, and the shuttering will mean direct savings trickling back to customers. She says FPL alone is projecting a $183 million savings in the coming years because of the closure.

In addition to the financial benefits, there are environmental ones as well.

“This is a very large plant, and by shutting it down, it’s going to prevent more than 5.6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year,” Gatewood says.

She says FPL has already developed and continues to develop cleaner energy sources- including natural gas and solar. JEA also expects to reduce their carbon footprint and the amount of nitrogen getting in to the St. Johns River.

There are 204 employees at the Power Park.

“JEA remains committed to helping all SJRPP employees with this transition, offering career counseling services, job fairs, preferential hiring at JEA, and other benefits prior to plant closure,” says a statement from JEA Spokeswoman Gerri Boyce.

JEA says they’re holding a job fair at the plant this week with 20 industrial businesses. 23 Power Park employees have already been placed within JEA, 22 have found employment wiht other industries in the area, and 30 are eligible for retirement.

The PSC says the Power Park was supposed to operate through 2052. It’s now expected to close in January. This is the third coal power plant FPL is plasing out in two years, according to the PSC. JEA says they still need to get the final PSC order, which is expected mid-October.

Once the Power Park is closed, JEA says you will start to see the landscape change in the late spring or early summer of 2018, with the decommissioning process complete by December 2019.