Charah Solutions to provide environmental services for closing Ohio power plant

Charah Solutions Inc., a Louisville, Kentucky-based provider of environmental services and byproduct sales to the power generation industry, announced July 19 that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the Avon Lake Generating Station and adjacent property in Avon Lake, Ohio, from Houston-based GenOn.

Under the agreement, Charah Solutions will begin environmental remediation and sustainable redevelopment of the property upon closing.

Avon Lake Generating Station is a 627-megawatt coal-fired plant operated by GenOn. The transaction was signed in May 2021, and the full transfer will take place in early April 2022 after the plant ceases generation operation. Charah Solutions has commenced the redevelopment and remediation planning efforts and will begin physical work once the full transfer occurs. GenOn will continue to maintain responsibility for the plant and operate the plant in the normal course of business through closing.

As part of this agreement, Charah Solutions, through its subsidiary Avon Lake Environmental Redevelopment Group LLC (ALERG), will acquire the 40-acre area located on Lake Erie, which consists of multiple parcels of land adjacent to the generating plant, including the generating station, submerged lands in Lake Erie, substation/switch gear and transformers, administrative offices and structures, and coal rail and storage yard parcels. ALERG will be responsible for the shutdown and decommissioning of the coal power plant, as well as performing all environmental remediation and redevelopment work at the site.

ALERG has retained Avison Young, Toronto, to provide real estate advisory, development and brokerage services in overseeing the redevelopment and future sale of the remediated property. Working with the city of Avon Lake, ALERG will position the property to expand economic activity and benefit the surrounding communities through job creation while enabling the site to provide the best potential use for the community and city of Avon Lake moving forward, the company says. ALERG is already in discussions with the city of Avon Lake regarding the best use for the future of the property that benefits members of the community and provides increased economic activity and jobs.

"This is the end of an era, and it reflects the changes occurring in our nation and around the world," Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka says. "We’re excited about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a transformational redevelopment for Avon Lake that will open up a 40-acre site on Lake Erie to the public, while we also take a big step forward in cleaning up our environment and improving the quality of life for our community.”

“Our environmental risk transfer services are innovative and sustainable solutions designed by Charah Solutions to meet the evolving and increasingly complex needs of our utility partners to lower their costs and meet their environmental commitments. Many utilities are experiencing an increased need to retire and decommission older or less economically viable generating assets while minimizing costs and maximizing the value of the assets [while] improving the environment," Charah Solutions President and CEO Scott Sewell says. "Our unique scale to provide a single-source answer for large-scale, complex environmental solutions continues to be a leading solution for our utility partners. The Avon Lake project is another example of Charah Solutions providing a custom approach for these complex projects while sustainably remediating the site and redeveloping the property in an environmentally responsible manner that creates economic and environmental benefits for the entire community.”