What Happens When A Power Plant Shuts Its Doors?

March 29, 2019

For eco-activist groups, shutting down power plants is the ultimate goal. But what happens when they succeed and a plant in a rural town shuts down?

Disaster strikes.

The Washington Post this week shed light on this tragic situation, profiling what happened during the past year in Adams County, Ohio, which saw two coal plants shut down last May. Before closing, the plants provided 700 high-paying jobs.

The Washington Post explains that the plant closures were devastating.

“But in places like Adams County, with a population of about 28,000 and already one of the poorest corners of Ohio, the death of a coal plant also can leave an unmistakable void. When the Stuart and Killen stations closed last year, with them went the area’s highest-paying jobs, its largest employers, its biggest taxpayers and, in many ways, its lifeblood.”

Take 58-year-old Linda Kirschner, who used to work at one of the plants. She made $75,000 plus overtime. Now, she’s stuck, feeling “too old to begin a new career but…too young to tap into their retirement savings.”

In addition to job losses, local public services have taken the brunt of the damage. The Sheriff’s department now has fewer deputies, school enrollment has plunged as former workers and their families fled the area, the county had to cut its budget by over 15 percent, emergency responders are facing budget cuts, and school spending per pupil has shrunk by a third.

What is happening in counties like these is a tragedy. Elite billionaires like Tom Steyer push these policies, decimate a town, and think nothing of the families they’ve hurt and the lives they’ve ruined.

Stories like these deserve to be heard. That’s why we’ll keep telling them until the liberal elites realize their pie in the sky ideas have real consequences.