Gov. Josh Shapiro announced he was moving to extend the lives of two Western Pennsylvania coal-fired power plants for four more years. The decision means that Keystone Generating Station in Armstrong and Indiana counties, and Conemaugh Generating Station in Indiana County will have more time to meet new federal rules on toxic wastewater discharged from coal plants.
In 2021, the owner of the two plants, Blairsville, Pa.-based Keystone-Conemaugh Projects, LLC, had announced it would close the plants by 2028, rather than comply with new federal limits implemented in 2020.
But last year, citing demand from data centers, the company said it would keep them open after all. The Pennsylvania state Department of Environmental Protection, which implements the federal water pollution guidelines, filed legal papers on April 20 to enter into a consent decree with the company to keep the plants open through 2032. The plants would develop a plan to meet the wastewater standards or face a fine of up to $1,500 per day.
“Pennsylvanians are worried about rising energy costs right now and they need reliable, affordable sources of power to ensure our homes and businesses can keep the lights on without breaking the bank,” said Governor Josh Shapiro, in a press release about the decision. “I’m an all-of-the-above energy Governor, and by upgrading the environmental controls at the Keystone and Conemaugh Generating Stations to keep them operating for longer, we will protect energy jobs and ensure Pennsylvania generates enough energy to support the regional grid while reducing their impact on our environment.”
Praise for keeping the plants open
The move was praised by Aric Baker, president of IBEW Local 459, which represents 200 workers at the plants.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Baker. “It’s something that I’ve been pushing for a long time that needed to be done. So, it’s gratifying to see it come to reality.”
Baker recalls giving Shapiro a tour of the plant about two years ago, at which point he said the governor said he would try to keep them open.
“He kind of gave us [his] word that he would work with us, and it came to fruition,” Baker said. “It potentially means that at least four more years of good family-sustaining jobs.”
Baker credited the extension of the two plants to the state pulling out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, which was part of a spending package negotiated by lawmakers and signed by Shapiro in November. RGGI is a de facto cap-and-trade program designed to limit carbon emissions from the power sector.
“That’s when I started to feel more positive” about the plants remaining open, Baker said. “They’re a for-profit business, you know, they’re not necessarily there to keep our lights on– they’re there to make money. So with [RGGI] hanging over their head, I didn’t know if they would invest to stay open or not….I think pulling out of RGGI was huge.”
Sen. Dave McCormick, Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, said in a statement that appeared on Shapiro’s press release: “I was glad to work with Governor Shapiro on this and appreciate his decision.” He also praised President Trump. “Thanks to President Trump’s energy dominance agenda, Pennsylvania will continue to lead the way on generation and power the transformation of our great commonwealth.”
President Donald Trump also claimed credit for saving the plants, in a post on his Truth Social website:
“My Administration just delivered a BIG WIN for the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which I love, and WON by the largest margin in History. Based on this, the Commerce Department worked with Governor Josh Shapiro, who has now agreed to keep open TWO BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL PLANTS in Indiana and Armstrong Counties.”
Trump went on to claim that “Radical Left Lunatics wanted to get rid of these wonderful Plants in favor of WIND FARMS, which kill the birds, and are both costly and ineffective.”
Trump did not substantiate these claims with any evidence. The Department of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment.
What’s in the consent agreement
The 2020 rules that the company cited as a reason to retire the plants early pertained to bottom ash transport water, and flue gas desulfurization wastewater. These rules put limits on levels of toxic metals like arsenic, mercury and selenium in wastewater that can be discharged from coal-fired power plants into waterways.
Keystone-Conemaugh did not return a phone call seeking comment.
In September 2021, the company announced that instead of meeting the wastewater rules, the plants would stop burning coal by 2028. But at the end of 2025, as utility costs fed by the data center boom had skyrocketed, Keystone-Conemaugh decided to reverse course.
The Pennsylvania DEP entered into a consent agreement with the company on April 20 before an Indiana County Court of Common Pleas judge, setting out a schedule for the company to construct its wastewater system, allowing the plants to remain open.
The agreement relied on a November 2025 Environmental Protection Agency rule proposal that allowed the DEP to revise its compliance schedule for the plant to meet the wastewater rules in the event of an “unexpected change” in electricity demand.
Under the agreement with the state, the plants will have more time to meet new water pollution standards to comply with the new federal rules, or face fines of $150 to $1,500 a day.
Criticism of the consent decree
Patrick McDonnell, president of PennFuture, an environmental group, says those fines are too small.
“They really are small amounts compared to the windfall profits that they stand to make in the energy market,” McDonnell said.
Tom Schuster, director of Pennsylvania’s chapter of the Sierra Club, criticized the state for allowing the plants to delay implementing water pollution protections.
“Much like a student that doesn’t feel like doing their homework, they have come and asked for an extension, and that’s what this consent decree is,” Schuster said.
Schuster said the new life for Keystone and Conemaugh was just another effect of the AI boom now consuming the U.S. economy.
“This is an example of the indirect environmental costs of data centers,” Schuster said. “I think that is what is driving the high, high demand. That’s what’s driving people’s bills up.”
According to state data, Keystone and Conemaugh are among the state’s top emitters of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming. In 2024, each emitted over 3 million tons of CO2, the equivalent of over 600,000 cars on the road every year.
“These are absolutely negatives on the climate side,” McDonnell said.
Asked about the effect of future climate policies on the plants, Baker, the union leader, said he doesn’t think the plants will operate indefinitely.
“I don’t believe that this country needs to burn coal another 100 years. I do believe that in the not-so-distant future, technology will surpass it. We’re just not there yet,” he said.
But with “astronomical” data center demand, switching them off didn’t make sense to him.
“These plants still are needed for a bridge into the future,” he said
