A Historical Overview

The former First Energy power plant in Ashtabula, which dates back to the 1920s, has sat entirely vacant since 2015. Construction of the electricity generation plant took place between 1929-1930, and the plant was officially opened and generating power on November 5, 1930.

The power plant was built to link with other Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) plants located in Cleveland and Avon. The plants had not realized their full use until after World War II, but during their earlier years had provided power for companies like Union Carbide, National Carbide and National Distiller plants. In fact, it was mainly because this power plant was here that these industries decided to settle in Ashtabula, as power was abundant.

The Rise and Expansion

The cost of the entire project was approximately $11,000,000 dollars, with a plan to eventually have eight 50,000 kilowatt units running in Ashtabula.

Stretching over 1,700 square miles throughout Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula and Lorain counties, the CEI plants provided a complete 132,000-volt transmission system. These plants provided power to the streets, homes, shops, radio stations and more all across Northeast Ohio.

Industrial Might and Coal Power

The Ashtabula plant utilized a bridge crane, which helped move approximately 300 tons of coal per hour. A rotary railroad car dumper made quick work of unloading cars at an average of 20 cars per hour. The coal boilers here were fed an average of 2,000 tons of coal every day.

By 1936, electricity use had risen substantially, and the need for more power was quickly approaching. The addition of another 50,000 kilowatt generator brought the plant’s total power capacity to 527,000 kilowatts, providing enough energy for the growing industry and economy in and around Ashtabula.

A Legacy of Energy and Transformation

Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company became affiliated with Toledo Edison in April 1986, and they had formed the Centerior Energy Corp. In 1997, Centerior then merged with Ohio Edison to form FirstEnergy Corporation, which then took over all of the former CEI plants.

Coal was once the most popular form of fuel in America, but as the EPA has revealed dangers through environmental and health studies, many plants continue to be shut down. This has been the case not only for the Ashtabula plant, but others along the lakeshore in Northeast Ohio as well. Since the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, FirstEnergy and other power companies have spent over $10 billion in environmental protection efforts.

The Decline of Coal Power

In 2012, it was announced by FirstEnergy that they would begin plans to close nine of their coal-fired plants. Of these nine plants was the Ashtabula facility, where 45 people were working at the time. FirstEnergy offered all of them jobs at different FirstEnergy locations. This same year, six of the nine plants were closed, leaving Ashtabula, Eastlake, and Lake Shore plants the only three in operation. In 2010 however, the Ashtabula plant had already been put into reserve status, and was only operated during peak times when there was a need for extra energy; mostly during hot summer months.

The entire shutdown process for the plants took the next three to four years to complete, with the Ashtabula plant being shut down first out of the three remaining. The coal-fired plant which ran for 85 years finally closed its doors for good on April 14, 2015. The final unit to be shut down at the Ashtabula plant was a 244-megawatt unit, which was put into service in 1958. Closure of the Lake Shore plant followed shortly after in September of the same year. The closure of these plants was put off for three years so that FirstEnergy could make upgrades to their transmission lines.

Environmental Impact and Future Prospects

There have been opportunities to keep the plants operating, but with projected costs to bring the plants into compliance with the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards falling way beyond what they want to pay, the decision has been made to simply shut the plants down.

Closure of these plants has led to the loss of hundreds of jobs, but has been a huge boost for the environment and the health of many communities. FirstEnergy and other companies continue to look forward to focusing on cleaner energy solutions, further straying from out of date fossil fuel technologies.

In 2006, EPA studies showed that CO2 emissions exceeded 1,686,153 tons, and in 2010 it was noted that eighteen deaths could be attributed to the Ashtabula plant alone. I’d rather not be killing myself to charge my phone.

The Human Cost of Coal Power

In 2010, the Clean Air Task Force called for a study to be done to calculate the amount of deaths or other health issues affecting the community surrounding the plant. These deaths and health issues are connected to the fine particle pollutants produced by coal-fired power plants. The pollution consists of incredibly fine particles made up of a mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The true danger comes with the particles which measure less than 2.5 microns in diameter, as they are small enough to bypass the lung’s natural defences and enter the bloodstream, directly attacking vital organs. Among those most affected are children, the elderly and people with respiratory diseases. Coal plant emissions have been connected to over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year. The majority affected are people living in lower income communities, as companies tend to avoid locating plants upwind of higher wealth communities. The study done by Abt calculated external costs (uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large) to total approximately $138 million noting 18 deaths, 29 heart attacks, 270 asthma attacks, 13 hospital admissions, 10 with chronic bronchitis, and 13 asthma ER visits all linked to pollution from the Ashtabula plant. Yes, in the United States you can connect any medical issues to large amounts of money.

The Silent Sentinel of Ashtabula

Today, you can easily recognize the plant along the lakeshore with its two towering 300-foot smoke stacks, which look out over Lake Erie. In the late evening and throughout the night, you can still see the defined bright red blinking of each tower, almost as if the plant is still in operation. Inside the plant, power is still connected, generators hum and buzz, while lights blink on and off in control rooms. It’s an eerie feeling sitting in a space that once provided such large amounts of power, where all is now covered in layers of dust. The fact that lights remain on surely adds to the feeling, almost as if the world had ended.

It’s unclear when or if the plant will be demolished. I don’t see any options for reuse, but anything is possible, so I won’t completely rule the option out.

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