Electric Utility Power Plant Asbestos Exposure

The U.S. electric utility industry has historically employed one of the largest workforces of stationary engineers, boiler operators, plant maintenance mechanics, plant electricians, and plant pipefitters in U.S. industry. From the 1920s through the late 1970s, virtually every U.S. central-station electric generating plant — coal-fired, oil-fired, gas-fired, and nuclear — was built with asbestos pipe insulation, asbestos block insulation, asbestos refractory, asbestos gaskets, asbestos packing, asbestos cement, asbestos cloth, and asbestos-bearing electrical equipment as the standard materials of construction.

Tens of thousands of U.S. utility power plant workers have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer in the decades following their exposure.

Major U.S. electric utility companies operating asbestos-era power plants

Investor-owned utilities (IOUs)

  • Consolidated Edison (Con Ed) — New York
  • Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) — Northern California
  • Southern California Edison (SCE) — Southern California
  • San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) — San Diego
  • Florida Power & Light (FPL) — Florida
  • Duke Energy — North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida (post-Progress merger), Indiana
  • Duke Power (legacy entity) — Carolinas
  • Florida Power Corporation / Progress Energy — Florida
  • Tampa Electric (TECO) — Tampa
  • JEA (formerly Jacksonville Electric Authority) — Jacksonville
  • Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) — Northern Illinois (now Exelon)
  • Union Electric / Ameren Missouri — Missouri, Illinois (Ameren Illinois)
  • Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) / Evergy — Kansas, Missouri
  • Westar Energy / Evergy — Kansas
  • Wisconsin Electric / We Energies — Wisconsin
  • Northern States Power / Xcel Energy — Minnesota, Wisconsin
  • Detroit Edison / DTE Energy — Michigan
  • Indianapolis Power & Light / AES Indiana — Indiana
  • Northern Indiana Public Service (NIPSCO) — Indiana
  • Cinergy / Duke Energy Indiana — Indiana
  • Cincinnati Gas & Electric (CG&E) / Duke Energy Ohio — Ohio
  • AEP (American Electric Power) — Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Tennessee
  • FirstEnergy — Ohio, Pennsylvania
  • Pennsylvania Power & Light (PPL) — Pennsylvania
  • PECO Energy / Exelon — Eastern Pennsylvania
  • PSEG / Public Service Electric & Gas — New Jersey
  • Long Island Lighting (LILCO) / Long Island Power Authority — Long Island NY
  • Niagara Mohawk / National Grid — Upstate NY
  • NYSEG / New York State Electric & Gas — Upstate NY
  • Boston Edison / NSTAR / Eversource — Massachusetts
  • Northeast Utilities / Eversource — New England

Federal power authorities

  • Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) — multiple coal-fired and nuclear plants across TVA territory
  • Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) — Pacific Northwest hydroelectric and thermal generation
  • Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) — Western U.S.
  • Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA) — Southwest U.S.

Cooperative and municipal utilities

  • Tens of thousands of rural electric cooperatives, municipal utility districts, and public utility districts operated their own generating plants of varying sizes

Major U.S. central-station coal-fired plants of the asbestos era

The U.S. utility industry built more than 1,000 coal-fired electric generating units between 1920 and 1979 (approximately the peak asbestos era for utility plant construction). Notable examples include:

  • TVA Bull Run, Cumberland, Gallatin, Johnsonville, Kingston, Paradise, Shawnee, Widows Creek, Watts Bar steam plants — Tennessee Valley
  • AEP Cardinal, Conesville, Gavin, Kammer, Kanawha River, Mitchell, Mountaineer, Muskingum River, Philip Sporn, Tanners Creek plants
  • Commonwealth Edison Crawford, Fisk, Joliet, Kincaid, Powerton, Quad Cities, Waukegan, Will County plants
  • Duke Power Marshall, Belews Creek, Cliffside, Allen, Riverbend, Lee, Buck, Dan River plants
  • Florida Power & Light Sanford, Riviera Beach, Manatee, Cape Canaveral, Cutler, Fort Myers plants

Each of these plants employed hundreds to thousands of workers across operations, maintenance, construction, and contractor roles.

Nuclear power plants and asbestos exposure

U.S. commercial nuclear power plants built between 1957 and 1979 (the era of U.S. commercial nuclear plant construction) incorporated extensive asbestos in their secondary-side (steam-cycle) systems. See the Indian Point Nuclear Station deep-dive page for a detailed nuclear plant asbestos pathway profile.

Exposure pathways across all utility power plant types

All utility steam plants of the asbestos era shared common asbestos exposure pathways:

  • Boiler asbestos — block insulation, refractory, gaskets, packing
  • Turbine asbestos — lagging, gaskets, packing
  • Condenser asbestos — block insulation, gaskets
  • Steam piping asbestos — pipe insulation throughout the plant
  • Electrical equipment asbestos — switchgear, breakers, motor control centers, transformer bushings
  • Building infrastructure asbestos — asbestos cement panels, asbestos floor tile, asbestos roofing
  • Construction-era asbestos disturbance — major plant outages with thousands of contractor workers performing intensive asbestos disturbance work

If You Worked at a U.S. Electric Utility Power Plant

If you worked as a stationary engineer, boiler operator, plant maintenance worker, plant electrician, plant pipefitter, instrument technician, trade-union contractor (HFIAW insulator, UA pipefitter, IBB boilermaker, IBEW electrician), or in any other role at a U.S. electric utility power plant during the asbestos era — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness — you may have legal rights.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

All consultations are free. No fee unless a financial recovery is made on your behalf.