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US Energy Secretary Issues Emergency Order to Keep Florida Coal Plant Online

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US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued an emergency order directing the Orlando Utilities Commission to maintain operations at Unit 1 of the Stanton Energy Center in Orlando, Florida, the US Department of Energy said in statement on Tuesday.

The coal-fired power unit, which was originally scheduled to enter an extended cold shutdown, will now remain available to generate electricity under a directive effective from Sept. 2 through Nov. 30, it said.

It further added that removing reliable baseline generation capacity poses a direct threat to grid stability and drives up consumer costs.

According to the Department of Energy resource adequacy projections, failure to preserve dependable power assets could exponentially increase outage risks by 2030.

This intervention mirrors broader administration efforts that successfully protected more than 17 gigawatts of coal-powered electricity generation from premature retirement nationwide over the past year.

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