The Pennsylvania Coal Alliance (PCA) today welcomed the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) filing of an unopposed Motion to Enter Consent Decree with Keystone-Conemaugh Projects, LLC (Key-Con) in the Indiana County Court of Common Pleas. The filing, announced by the Shapiro Administration on April 21, represents a significant and pragmatic step toward preserving reliable, affordable baseload power while advancing targeted environmental upgrades at the Keystone and Conemaugh Generating Stations.
“PCA strongly supports this Consent Decree because it gives Key-Con the critical option to keep these vital 3,400-megawatt facilities operating beyond their previously announced December 31, 2028, retirement date,” said Rachel Gleason, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance. Court approval is essential, but it is only the first step. It is critical that state and federal policymakers advance supportive energy policies that keep plants like Key-Con operational through calendar year 2034. Such policies will protect grid reliability, safeguard blue-collar jobs, stabilize electricity prices, and secure long-term demand for Pennsylvania coal.”
PCA member companies proudly supply Key-Con with millions of tons of Pennsylvania-mined coal each year, powering family-sustaining jobs across the Commonwealth’s coal fields and supporting the stations’ role as economic anchors in Armstrong and Indiana Counties. These plants deliver more than $5 million in annual property taxes, sustain over 1,000 direct jobs plus thousands more in supply chains, and provide the reliable, dispatchable generation Pennsylvania needs amid PJM Interconnection’s documented reliability challenges.
The Consent Decree includes enforceable milestones for environmental compliance – including Bottom Ash system upgrades by 2026 and FGD wastewater treatment by 2028 – while aligning with Pennsylvania’s recent withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the proven resilience of these stations during extreme weather events.
“When Keystone and Conemaugh opted to cease operations by the end of 2028 the long-term outlook of the electricity markets was immeasurably different than what it is today – fuel secure, reliable resources were not being valued for their ability to meet demand surges or when unreliable generation output plummets. While concerns over grid reliability and resource adequacy have been echoed for over a decade, the risk of shorting the grid has intensified in recent years. Data center demand is easy to blame for these developments, but the reality is subsidies for unreliable sources, cap and tax programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and market structure has prematurely retired the resources we need most,” said Gleason. “Pennsylvania coal producers provide the onsite, secure fuel to Keystone and Conemaugh that is necessary to keep the lights on and prevent a grid crisis, and PCA stands ready to work with state and federal partners to make continued operations a reality. Pennsylvania’s energy security, economic strength, and coal-producing communities depend on it.”
