Sale of former DP&L power plants is complete

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

FIRST REPORTED HERE: DPL prepares to sell two Adams County power plants

CLP purchased the former plants from AES Ohio Generation, LLC, a subsidiary of DPL Inc., and is now focusing on the development of remediation plans with the goal of repurposing the site for future redevelopment, the company said in a release.

Last month, this news outlet obtained twin letters copied to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, in which an attorney for AES Ohio Generation gave notice that “ownership and operation” of the J.M. Stuart power station and the Killen station was to be transferred to “Kingfisher Development Co.”

The letters said AES intended to apply to the EPA to transfer the permits for both stations to Kingfisher, which has a Fenton, Mo. mailing address. A spokeswoman for Dayton Power & Light confirmed at the time that the stations remained retired and that a sale was pending.

Kingfisher Development has the same street address as Aton Environmental, an environmental and real estate services company in Missouri. The company performs environmental assessments, among other services, for clients.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of the two retired coal facilities in Adams County and look forward to working closely with local officials and community stakeholders as we enter the initial phase of the demolition and remediation portion at the site,” Ron Froh, chief executive and president of CLP, said in the release Thursday. “Our goal on this project — as it is on every project — is to minimize disturbance to the local community and to maximize the potential for long-term opportunity at the site.”

CLP said it will “address the environmental needs of the sites, including remediation, groundwater monitoring, abatement, decommissioning and demolition of the facilities.”

The J.M. Stuart Station was a coal-fired power plant that became fully operational in 1974. Killen Station had one coal-fired unit and one oil-fired unit, both beginning commercial generation in 1982. Both stations were closed in May 2018.

Commercial Liability Partners, based in St. Louis, said that over the past five years it has managed cleanup of more than 10 similar properties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois and West Virginia and has similar projects underway in Michigan.

Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp. owns DPL. DPL Inc.’s subsidiaries include Dayton Power and Light.