A Non-Nuclear Boondoggle in Moscow
On the William H. Zimmer Power Plant
For my birthday this weekend, we took a leisurely drive along the Ohio River to Maysville, Kentucky, population 8,000 and change.
I’d never been to Maysville before, but I know a fair amount about it from my days in Congressman Geoff Davis’s office. We even had an office there across from the Eagles Aerie.
My goal was to see what was down on the river, and take the girls to a fall festival (we went to Neltner’s in Cold Spring).
As we approached Moscow, Ohio, a dystopian cooling tower loomed and my wife asked “Is that a nuclear power plant?” Confidently, I said no: I know where the nukes are1 and there are none anywhere near here.
But what I did not know was that the William H. Zimmer Power Station was supposed to be a nuclear power plant. But due to a series of misadventures, controversy, and cost-overruns, it did not generate nuclear power even though it was 97 percent complete.
From its Wikipedia page:
Originally expected to cost $240 million for one unit, when the cost estimate soared to at least $3.1 billion, the decision was made in January 1984 to convert the mothballed plant into a coal-fired generated plant
$3 billion is a lot of money to absolutely waste, but that’s what happened. Put in perspective, it’s about what Jabroni Jimmy Haslam wants for a domed stadium in Brook Park, Ohio.
''Abandonment would represent a complete waste of 14 years of effort,'' Peter Forster, president and chief executive officer of Dayton Power told The New York Times. ''Walking away from the project and turning our back on it, from the customers' standpoint, is just not acceptable.''
So they didn’t!
It was a risky move for Cincinnati Gas & Electric:
CG&E, AEP and DP&L announced the cancellation of the Zimmer Nuclear Power Plant in 1983. Zimmer's total sunk costs amounted to roughly $1.6 billion; CG&E's share was $716 million, nearly 90% of the utility's 1982 net worth.
It made CG&E a target for acquisition or merger. CG&E eventually merged with Kentucky’s Union Light, Heat & Power and Indiana’s Public Service Energy, which became Cinergy, the last namesake of Riverfront Stadium. Duke Energy, a North Carolina-based company eventually bought Cinergy.
I don’t need to take you down a rabbit hole of old library clippings, because the Clermont County Library has made a 42 minute video on it. Enjoy.
A tornado struck the site in 2012.
Eventually, after a costly and relatively short life as a coal plant, its owners began to discuss its end. New owners emerged, as energy companies play a combo version of “hot potato” and “musical chairs” with these sites. Nobody wants the one holding the papers when the music stops.
Not only are there environmental and remediation costs to deal with, who wants to be the company that has to go to tax court to argue that a non-working power plant is overtaxed? Ultimately, in addition to the loss of future tax revenue—a big hit for a small township—these folks often have to pay back the revenue.
In 2020, the owner (Vistra) said it would close in seven years. A year later, they announced it would close the next year, in 2022. It’s been dormant ever since, though Vistra said at the time:
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.
Ultimately, the communities surrounding Zimmer had to pay Vistra energy back $139,000 in tax revenue.
If you want to see what it looked like before it stopped generating, here’s some drone footage.
When I’m not writing about politics, I do sometimes write about nuclear energy.
Another great story. Thanks.
And Maysville, what a cool little town.
I enjoyed the opportunity to represent the owners before the Ohio Power Siting Board on licensing issues arising out of the conversion to a coal fired facility. Thank you for the article and the drone footage.