The 640MW natural gas-fired power plant being built to replace Cane Run’s output is expected to be completed in May 2015.
LG7E Energy Services senior vice president Paul W Thompson said, "Having received timely certificates and permits from the Kentucky Public Service Commission and other regulatory agencies, we were able to get a quick start on the project and now should be able to retire the coal-fired units sooner than expected."
Bluegrass Power Constructors, who will be building the natural gas combined-cycle plant, is likely to start full construction in the first quarter of 2013.
The company said the communications tower on the Cane Run property was relocated and transmission lines are being moved to make room for the new plant.
The Cane Run plant, which began operation in 1954, had a total of six coal-fired units by 1969. It retired units 1, 2 and 3 in 1987.
