A coal pile at Cayuga Power Plant would be replaced a by natural gas pipeline under a plan proposed by the plant's owners.
The future is bleak for New York's coal-fired power plants.
A precipitous drop in natural-gas prices mixed with the effects of the U.S. recession and bolstered pollution regulations have all but rendered coal plants economically unaffordable and environmentally unsustainable in the state.
Of the power generated on the New York electricity grid, just 3 percent came from coal in 2012, down from 7 percent the year before and 15 percent in 2004, the New York Independent System Operator said. Nationally, 37 percent of energy was generated by coal last year. ...