Delaware
Indian River Power Plant to shut down two years ahead of schedule. Here are the details
Gov. John Carney marches in Wilmington Jaycees Christmas Parade
John Carney walked the streets of the city that elected him to be Mayor at the Wilmington Jaycees Christmas Parade
The only operational unit of Delaware’s sole coal-fired power plant will shut down in February, nearly two years ahead of schedule.
Indian River Unit 4 near Dagsboro originally was scheduled to shut down in 2026 while electrical grids were upgraded to ensure reliability, but regional grid manager PJM announced on Monday, Dec. 23, that the power plant’s unit can shut down 22 months early without causing adverse impacts on the grid’s reliability.
The company has stated that this early shutdown will save consumers nearly $100 million and will soon make Delaware the sixth state in the country with no coal-fired power plants in operation.
Here are the details.
Why is the plant shutting down?
The Indian River station, located near Dagsboro, is Delaware’s only remaining coal-fired power plant and one of the state’s top air polluters. It consists of four units, three of which have been retired for at least 11 years.
PJM announced on Monday, Dec. 23, that the Indian River Unit 4, which is owned by NRG, could retire by February 2025, two years ahead of its scheduled deactivation date.
Delmarva Power, which owns the transmission lines in the region, has reportedly completed the required transmission upgrades that would enable the power plant to shut down without negatively impacting electrical reliability. PJM says this shutdown will save wholesale electricity customers around $93 million.
As of Wednesday, Dec. 18, Delmarva Power completed its final stage of transmission upgrades that would allow the power plant unit to shut down.
“Delmarva’s good work to complete this project far ahead of schedule is a win for our customers, both from a reliability and affordability perspective,” said Mike Bryson, senior vice president – operations at PJM. “PJM regards RMR arrangements as a last resort to keep units temporarily operational to maintain system reliability while we make transmission improvements to balance the system, so the sooner we can get the work done, the better.”
In June of 2021, NRG notified PJM of its intent to shut down the unit in 2022, but after PJM conducted a reliability analysis, it was concluded that this shutdown date would cause adverse impacts on electric customers, and the unit’s life was extended until December 2026 to give Delmarva Power time to upgrade the electric grid.
At the time of the announced extension, customers were expected to bear the brunt of the cost, with an estimated average monthly bill increase of around $6.45.
Indian River power plant’s dirty history
The Indian River plant has been a subject of environmental and public health scrutiny for decades.
In August of 2007, the Delaware Division of Public Health confirmed the presence of a “cancer cluster” in the area immediately surrounding the Indian River Power Plant, with a cancer rate 17% higher than the national average at the time.
The 2007 toxic release inventory, released in 2009, listed the Indian River Power Plant as the top emitter of toxic releases, with 88% of the emissions being acid gasses known to have harmful effects on human health and safety.
In March of 2009, the grassroots environmentalist organization Citizens for Clean Power sued the Indian River Power Plant for committing over 6,000 violations of state and federal air pollution regulations.
However, in 2011, the Delaware Cancer Consortium, the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control commissioned a study on the potential link between toxin exposure in nearby residents. It concluded that the power plant was not responsible for the impact on people’s health.
In 2019, the Environmental Integrity Project confirmed that the Indian River Power Plant was contaminating groundwater with unsafe levels of toxic pollutants found in coal ash including arsenic, lithium and mercury among others.
In 2023, the EPA acknowledged that coal ash is more dangerous than previously believed, due to levels of arsenic and radiation that pose cancer risks, while also noting widespread noncompliance with federal safeguards.
EarthJustice calculated in May 202, that the power plant contains nearly 1.5 million cubic yards of coal ash and toxic waste, which has contaminated the area’s groundwater.
More recently, the site adjacent to the Indian River plant has been targeted as a potential area for offshore wind cables to connect on-shore. This permit was rejected by Sussex County Council this month.
Molly McVety covers community and environmental issues around Delaware. Contact her at mmcvety@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.
Humpback whale beaches and dies at Delaware Seashore State Park
The Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute will perform a necropsy.
A dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach on Jan. 8, according to the nonprofit Marine Education Research and Rehabilitation Institute.
The juvenile male was first seen Jan. 6, floating at sea about 2 miles off the Indian River Inlet, a MERR Facebook post said. The bloated 30-foot whale ultimately beached near a private community in the early afternoon of Jan. 8, the post said.
MERR is attempting to coordinate with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to get equipment to move the whale out of the water and onto the beach to perform a necropsy, the post said. Right now, there isn’t enough information to determine a cause of death.
Delaware saw at least three dead whales last year, in the Indian River Bay, at Delaware Seashore State Park and at Pigeon Point. The first two were humpbacks, while the Pigeon Point whale was a fin whale.
A necropsy on the Delaware Seashore whale found blunt force trauma across its back, indicating it may have been struck by a ship, MERR Director Suzanne Thurman said.
Recently, on Jan. 4, a dead fin whale was found on the bow of a ship at the Gloucester Marine Terminal in New Jersey, which is located in the Port of Philadelphia on the Delaware River.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Facebook.
A Pennsylvania man is accused of stealing more than 100 skeletons from a cemetery in Delaware County.
Jonathan Gerlach, 34, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, is charged with abuse of corpse, criminal mischief, burglary and other related offenses, Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse revealed on Thursday, Jan. 8.
Léelo en español aquí
Between November 2025 and Jan. 6, 2026, 26 mausoleums and underground burial sites had been burglarized or desecrated at Mount Moriah Cemetery, which stretches from Yeadon Borough, Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia, investigators said.
As police investigated the thefts, they caught Gerlach desecrating a monument at the cemetery on Tuesday, Jan. 6, according to officials. Gerlach was taken into custody and investigators executed a search warrant at his home in Ephrata.
During the search, investigators recovered 100 human skeletons from Gerlach’s home as well as eight more human remains inside a storage locker, according to Rouse.
“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life the other night guys,” Rouse said. “This is an unbelievable scene that no one involved – from myself to the detectives to the medical examiners that are now trying to piece together what they are looking at, quite literally – none of them have ever seen anything like this before.”
Rouse said some of the stolen skeletons are hundreds of years old.
“We are trying to figure out exactly what we are looking at,” Rouse said. “We quite simply at this juncture are not able to date and identify all of them.”
Rouse also said some of the skeletons are of infants and children.
“It is truly, in the most literal sense of the word, horrific,” Rouse said. “I grieve for those who are upset by this who are going through it who are trying to figure out if it is in fact their loved one or their child because we found remains that we believe to be months old infants among those that he had collected. Our hearts go out to every family that is impacted by this.”
Sources also told NBC10 the thefts are related to a similar case in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Investigators said they are looking at Gerlach’s online community — including his social media groups and Facebook page — to determine if people were buying, selling, or trading the remains.
Gerlach is currently in custody at the Delaware County Prison after failing to post $1 million bail. Online court records don’t list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
VENTNOR, N.J. (WPVI) — A Delaware woman is behind bars in connection with a hit-and-run crash in November at the Jersey shore.
(The video in the player above is from previous coverage.)
The incident happened around 6:16 p.m. on Nov. 20 in Ventnor, New Jersey.
READ MORE | Video shows Jersey shore hit-and-run crash that left 92-year-old injured
Police said the 92-year-old victim was struck at Ventnor and Newport avenues. He sustained serious injuries and was transported to an area hospital.
Investigators said the driver, Leslie Myers, 51, of Weldin Park, Delaware, fled the scene after the crash.
She was arrested Wednesday on charges of assault by auto, leaving the scene of an accident and other related offenses.
Myers is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in Pennsylvania, awaiting extradition to New Jersey.
Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Arrest made after $40K worth of HVAC units stolen in Maryland, over 10 businesses impacted
Butler WR transfer Braydon Alford commits to Michigan football
Police to address Princeton death during child sexual abuse material investigation
Protests continue in the Triangle over ICE actions after Minnesota shooting incident
Mississippi lawmakers aim to raise funding cap for hospitals
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
AOC accuses Vance of believing ‘American people should be assassinated in the street’
Mercosur: How Macron’s domestic weakness undercut his Brussels clout
National Park Service will void passes with stickers over Trump’s face
Trump plans to meet with Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado next week
Trump says meeting Iran’s ‘Crown Prince’ Pahlavi would not be appropriate
-
Detroit, MI6 days ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Technology3 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Dallas, TX4 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Health5 days agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits
-
Iowa3 days agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Nebraska3 days agoOregon State LB transfer Dexter Foster commits to Nebraska
-
Nebraska3 days agoNebraska-based pizza chain Godfather’s Pizza is set to open a new location in Queen Creek
-
Oklahoma1 day agoNeighbors sift debris, help each other after suspected Purcell tornado