Government
What Happens to a Small Town When Its Coal Plant Shuts Down?
The city and schools of Eastlake, Ohio, will take hit when a nearby FirstEnergy plant closes in September.
When the FirstEnergy Corporation announced last week that, due to new mercury and air toxin standards, the company would be closing six of its coal energy plants, the city of Eastlake, Ohio, couldn’t help but panic a little.
The town of 20,000, just outside of Cleveland on the shore of Lake Erie, is home to one of the six plants slated for closure. The plant is one of the largest employers in town, and when it shuts down operations in September, it will also stop generating tax revenue for the city.