Vistra, a competitive energy supplier headquartered in Irving, Texas, announced on September 29, 2020 that it would retire its entire Midwest coal fleet, about 6.8 GW of energy, by 2027.[1] The company currently owns seven coal-fired power plants across the Midwest and would retire the majority of its plants through 2025-2027, though the company commented that the retirements could be sooner if it is more economic to do so. According to Vistra, the coal plants, especially the one operating in the “irreparably dysfunctional” Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) market, are economically challenged. Additionally, upcoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filing deadlines would require either significant capital expenditures for compliance or retirement declarations.

Vistra also announced the launch of Vistra Zero, a portfolio of zero-carbon power generation facilities. Under Vistra Zero, the company is breaking ground on six new solar projects and one battery energy storage project, which total nearly 1,000 MW. These projects will be online by 2022 and are all located in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. Additionally, the company announced new greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Vistra is now setting out to achieve a 60% reduction, up from 50%, in carbon emissions by 2030, and a long-term objective to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, up from an 80% reduction target, by 2050.

[1] https://investor.vistracorp.com/investor-relations/news/press-release-details/2020/Vistra-Accelerates-Pivot-to-Invest-in-Clean-Energy-and-Combat-Climate-Change/default.aspx