I hope they are just moth balling these plants. When the lights go out we will need those plants quickly. A properly done lay up can allow industrial plants of all types to come on line quickly when needed.
Cortec is one company which has ready made plans for layup procedures.
I don’t know what’s going on with AEP. They’re placing all of their bets on using natural gas in the future. Their CEO is on record stating they expect natural gas prices to remain low for 25 years. That ignores the big runup in natural gas prices after the early nineties due to all of the matural gas fueled plants that were built. Since those plants can be turned on or off remotely from a dispatch center, it’s easy to operate one as a peaking unit or idle it when natural gas prices explode.
Of course you need alternative power sources to be able to do that. For AEP they’ve always been able to rely on coal. Their announced strategy may kill them long term. WV, for one, never deregulated the energy market. That means AEP may be between a rock and a hard spot if natural gas prices skyrocket.
People who ignore history get to suffer from the same mistakes.