Michelle Brunetti and Avalon Zoppo report for the AC Press
B.L. England, the last coal-powered plant in New Jersey, was set to stop operations yesterday after more than 50 years of burning fossil fuels, Upper Township Mayor Rich Palombo said.
“They’re officially flipping the switch the morning of May 1,” he said Monday. “They’ll continue having people working at the plant as it’s decommissioning.”
R.C. Cape May Holdings, the owner of the Beesleys Point plant, did not return requests for comment.
Jason McGovern, a spokesman for grid operator PJM, said B.L. England submitted a deactivation notice for the plant in December 2016, but grid reliability upgrades stopped the facility for shutting down at that point.
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The closure could have some impact on the township’s $1.86 billion ratable base. The company has filed a tax appeal in state court for the 261.5-acre parcel the plant sits on, said Municipal Tax Assessor Megan McAfee.
The property is assessed at $2.36 million in land and $14.63 million in improvements, and for which the company paid the township $313,853.32 in property taxes in 2018.
McAfee could not discuss particulars of the case, as it is in litigation, she said.
But state law requires that the township keep receiving $6 million a year in energy receipts payments it has been getting in exchange for hosting the plant.
Residents will miss the old plant
“The neighbors and I went by, and it looked closed,” said Ellen Mallen, a 15-year resident of the Marmora section of Upper Township. “It’s been like a landmark. I always looked for the smoke.”
Dan Young, 53, lives in Marmora but grew up in Beesleys Point near the plant when it was owned by Atlantic City Electric. At the time, the plant provided recreational facilities for township residents, he said, including a pool and nine-hole golf course.
“I went there to the pool as far back as I can remember,” Young said of the late 1960s and early 1970s. “We would sneak onto the golf course at night when I was 10 or 11 years old. That’s where we taught ourselves to play golf.”
He also has fond memories of something he probably never told his parents about — jumping onto the coal cars as they slowly meandered down the railroad tracks to the plant, Young said.
