Energy Future Holdings has backed off plans to bid on a coal plant outside Waco owned by an investment fund controlled by software tycoon Bill Gates.
The bankrupt power giant filed a motion last month seeking permission to participate in the asset auction of another bankrupt power company, Optim Energy.
Allan Koenig, a spokesman for EFH, said of the court filing late Monday, “It was an economic decision.”
Falling victim to the same collapsing power prices that hurt EFH, Optim filed for bankruptcy in February after Gates’ Cascade Investment decided to stop supporting the struggling power company, according to court filings. Optim owns three power plants, all in Texas.
With President Barack Obama’s decision to cut carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants, coal power in Texas faces an uncertain future.
In its June filing, EFH said the bidding for Optim’s 305-megawatt Twin Oaks plant in Bremond would open at $60 million.
In 2013, more than 70 percent of the electricity generated by EFH’s generation arm, Luminant, came from coal-fired plants.
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