Duke Energy is shutting down two coal-fired power plants this spring. The plants are in Rowan and Gaston counties, and they're closing two years ahead of schedule.
The plants are really old, barely used and kind of dirty. The one in Rowan County is called Buck Steam Station and began burning coal in 1926. Three years later, Riverbend Steam Station in Gaston County powered up.
Now neither of them operates more than 80 days a year, and they wouldn't meet new environmental standards in 2015 without major changes.
