Gulf Power saw its coal burn fall to 88,593 st in January, down 20.8% from 111,925 st in December and 47.1% lower than 167,418 st in the year-ago month, according to a state regulatory filing.
Coal's generation mix was at 27.6%, or 170,821 MWh, in January, down from 49.3%, or 317,511 MWh expected for the month, according to filings published by the Florida Public Service Commission. The generation mix was down from 34.1%, or 229,280 MWh, in December and 50.5%, or 324,217 MWh, in the year-ago month.
Natural gas' mix was at 71.8%, or 472,859 MWh, in January, up from 65.5% in December and 49.2% in the year-ago month.
In January, Gulf Power's average fuel cost for coal was $65.56/st, down from $66.17/st in December but up from $63.38/st in the year-ago month.
Heat rate efficiency for coal was at 9,414 Btu/KWh in January, while gas was at 7,048 Btu/KWh, resulting in dispatch prices of roughly $33.98/MWh and $18.61/MWh, respectively. In December, coal's dispatch price was $33.02/MWH and gas' price was $19.64/MWH, while in the year-ago month, coal was at $33.45/MWh and gas at $27.33/MWh.
Gulf Power owns the Crist coal-fired power plant in Pensacola, Florida, as well as a 50% ownership of Mississippi Power's Daniel plant in Escatawpa, Mississippi and a 25% stake in one generating unit at Georgia Power's Scherer plant in Juliette, Georgia.
COAL PURCHASES
Excluding the Scherer plant, Gulf Power purchased 91,870 st of coal in January at an average price of $65.47/st, down from 121,473 st at $54.29/st in December and 197,886 st at $63.81/st in the year-ago month.
The utility also bought $1.19 million worth of coal for the Scherer plant in January at an average cost of $2.76/MMBtu, compared with $1.5 million worth of coal in December at $2.71/MMBtu and $2.47 million worth of coal at $2.59/MMBtu in the year-ago month.
At the end of January, Gulf Power's coal stockpile, excluding the Scherer plant, was at 524,495 st, or 33 days of cover, compared with 521,218 st, or 33 days cover after December, and 411,942 st, or 26 days cover, at the end of January 2019.
The Scherer plant has 64 days of supply at the end of January, up from 57 days after December.
