IRVING, Texas, July 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistra (NYSE:
VST) today announced it will close the Zimmer Power Plant in
Moscow, Ohio, by mid-2022. The
company had previously announced the plant would retire no later
than 2027 based on environmental regulations. The early retirement
decision comes after the plant failed to secure any capacity
revenues in the latest auction held in May by the grid operator,
PJM.
"The Zimmer coal-fueled power plant has recently struggled
economically due to its configuration, costs, and performance. The
PJM capacity revenues are critical to Zimmer, and unfortunately,
without them, the plant simply doesn't make money," said
Curt Morgan, chief executive officer
of Vistra. "This decision did not come easy. Our people work hard
every single day to provide power to Ohioans and have done a number
of things over the past few years to sustain the life of the plant
and improve its economics. But despite their best efforts, the
disappointing auction results, along with other challenging
factors, make continued economic operation impossible. We're left
with a difficult but necessary decision of retiring the plant."
May's PJM capacity auction for 2022-23 cleared much lower than
expected – nearly 50% lower than the 2021-22 auction in the zone
where Zimmer is located. Due to this lower clearing price, Zimmer
was unable to sell any generating capacity in the auction. In
addition, indications suggest future PJM capacity auctions have the
potential to experience low clearing price results, as well,
resulting in a multimillion-dollar loss in expected future capacity
revenues compared to previous years.
Vistra plans to retire the site on May
31, 2022. As it is doing at its plant sites across the
country, the company will evaluate the Zimmer site for potential
investments in renewables or grid-scale battery storage, utilizing
existing infrastructure.
Vistra always strives to provide workers and communities with as
much advanced notice as possible ahead of a plant's retirement. The
delayed running of the PJM capacity auction for the 2022-23
planning year compressed the opportunity to provide more time, in
this instance. As always, Vistra will support its workers during
this period. The company's commitment to the Moscow and Clermont
County communities is consistent with its desire to help
provide a responsible transition for local communities following
plant closures.
Zimmer Power Plant opened in 1991 and currently has
approximately 150 employees. The plant is a single-unit site with a
capacity of 1,300 megawatts.
About Vistra
Vistra (NYSE: VST) is a leading Fortune 275 integrated retail
electricity and power generation company based in Irving, Texas, providing essential resources
for customers, commerce, and communities. Vistra combines an
innovative, customer-centric approach to retail with safe,
reliable, diverse, and efficient power generation. The company
brings its products and services to market in 20 states and the
District of Columbia, including
six of the seven competitive wholesale markets in the U.S. and
markets in Canada and Japan, as well. Serving nearly 4.3 million
residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers with
electricity and natural gas, Vistra is one of the largest
competitive electricity providers in the country and offers over 50
renewable energy plans. The company is also the largest competitive
power generator in the U.S. with a capacity of approximately 39,000
megawatts powered by a diverse portfolio, including natural gas,
nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. In addition,
the company is a large purchaser of wind power. The company is
currently constructing a 400-MW/1,600-MWh battery energy storage
system in Moss Landing,
California, the largest of its kind in the world. Vistra is
guided by four core principles: we do business the right way, we
work as a team, we compete to win, and we care about our
stakeholders, including our customers, our communities where we
work and live, our employees, and our investors. Learn more about
our environmental, social, and governance efforts and read the
company's sustainability report at
https://www.vistracorp.com/sustainability/.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
The information presented herein includes
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements, which are based on current expectations, estimates and
projections about the industry and markets in which Vistra Corp.
("Vistra") operates and beliefs of and assumptions made by Vistra's
management, involve risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to
predict and are not guarantees of future performance, that could
significantly affect the financial results of Vistra. All
statements, other than statements of historical facts, that are
presented herein, or in response to questions or otherwise, that
address activities, events or developments that may occur in the
future, including such matters as activities related to our
financial or operational projections, the potential impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic on our results of operations, financial condition
and cash flows, projected synergy, value lever and net debt
targets, capital allocation, capital expenditures, liquidity,
projected Adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion rate,
dividend policy, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals,
future acquisitions or dispositions, development or operation of
power generation assets, market and industry developments and the
growth of our businesses and operations (often, but not always,
through the use of words or phrases, or the negative variations of
those words or other comparable words of a future or
forward-looking nature, including, but not limited to: "intends,"
"plans," "will likely," "unlikely," "believe," "confident",
"expect," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "will,"
"shall," "should," "could," "may," "might," "predict," "project,"
"forecast," "target," "potential," "goal," "objective," "guidance"
and "outlook"),are forward-looking statements. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Although Vistra believes that in making any such
forward-looking statement, Vistra's expectations are based on
reasonable assumptions, any such forward-looking statement involves
uncertainties and risks that could cause results to differ
materially from those projected in or implied by any such
forward-looking statement, including, but not limited to: (i)
adverse changes in general economic or market conditions (including
changes in interest rates) or changes in political conditions or
federal or state laws and regulations; (ii) the ability of Vistra
to execute upon its contemplated strategic, capital allocation,
performance, and cost-saving initiatives and to successfully
integrate acquired businesses; (iii) actions by credit ratings
agencies; (iv) the severity, magnitude and duration of pandemics,
including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting effects on our
results of operations, financial condition and cash flows; (v) the
severity, magnitude and duration of extreme weather events
(including winter storm Uri), contingencies and uncertainties
relating thereto, most of which are difficult to predict and many
of which are beyond our control, and the resulting effects on our
results of operations, financial condition and cash flows; and (vi)
those additional risks and factors discussed in reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission by Vistra from time to time,
including the uncertainties and risks discussed in the sections
entitled "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in
Vistra's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and any subsequently filed
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
Any forward-looking statement speaks only at the date on which
it is made, and except as may be required by law, Vistra will not
undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to
reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made
or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors
emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all of
them; nor can Vistra assess the impact of each such factor or the
extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause
results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statement.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vistra-accelerates-closure-of-ohio-coal-plant-to-mid-2022-years-earlier-than-planned-301336423.html
SOURCE Vistra Corp.