Sept 12, 2011:Luminant sues EPA, says it will shut two coal units, cut 500 jobs …”At the Big Brown power plant in Freestone County, Units 1 and 2 will switch over to Powder River Basin coal and the nearby lignite mines will close. The moves will lead to about 500 job cuts, the company said.
“While Luminant is making preparations to meet the rule’s compliance deadline, this morning it also filed a legal challenge in an effort to protect facilities and employees, and to minimize the harm this rule will cause to electric reliability in Texas,” the company said in a statement.
The company is asking an appeals court for a stay implementing the Cross-State rule, saying it is illegal because the EPA didn’t include Texas in the draft rules released in 2010. The final rules released in June 2011 included a heavy emissions reduction burden for Texas.