WILLIE Ferguson is striving to convince people that Longannet Power Station is not about to close with the loss of 260 jobs.

The Fife councillor, who stays in Kincardine and works at the plant, said locals had assumed the worst as soon as Scottish Power raised the possibility of the lights going out.

The company stressed there were “no plans” to close but sparked alarm when they said the plant’s financial situation had to change to ensure it remained open.

At present, Scottish Power say they are unfairly charged £40million more a year than power stations in the south of England.

“The reaction from locals reading and hearing about it, they assumed it was going to close and that’s the difficulty we have with people fearing the worst,” said Cllr Ferguson.

“Longannet is very important not just to the economy of Kincardine but to the wider Fife economy.

“It’s a big employer. They’ve mentioned the core staff of 260 but you’ve probably as many as that again with contractors and sub-contractors that rely on the plant,” He continued, “My take on the news was that it wasn’t all bad and the Scottish Government was going to fight our corner.

“But the message that came across on TV and in the papers gave people the wrong impression.

“I’m doing my bit to redress that by saying Longannet has a future, it has a good team that works hard and takes pride in the job.” It is the largest power station in Scotland and provides enough electricity per year to power more than two million homes as well as employment for 260 people.

But last week Scottish Power announced it would not submit Longannet into the UK Government’s auction to supply electricity generating capacity for the winter of 2018-19.

The firm’s CEO in energy retail and generation, Neil Clitheroe, explained, “We do not want to close Longannet and I would stress that there are no plans to do so.

“We have invested over £200 million in recent years to improve both environmental and operational performance at Longannet, and we want to secure a longer-term future for the station.

“However, to avoid closure within the coming years, changes to the plant’s financial situation must be achieved.

“The current market conditions, predominantly the transmission charging rules, mean that we simply can’t justify entering Longannet into a process which is four years away and will then only offer one year of certainty.” The transmission charge is the cost of connecting to the National Grid and sending the electricity to the main centres of demand and generation – the UK’s most densely populated areas in London and the south-east of England.

The cost increases based on the distance that the station is from these areas, hence the coal-fired Scottish station pays far more than plants in the south of England.

Mr Clitheroe said the “transmission charging penalties imposed on Longannet are disproportionately high” and explained, “The lack of any sensible regional flexibility in the current system penalises generators in Scotland and discourages investment in new thermal power plants. “Simply to reach the 2018 delivery year, Longannet needs to pay over £120 million in transmission penalties.

“In comparison, if Longannet was located in the London area, the station would receive a fee of £4million per year to stay connected.

“We of course recognise the changing role of coal in our energy mix but, given that Britain’s generating reserve margin could fall to as little as two per cent in 2015, it is important that the transition to low carbon generation is managed correctly and changing regulation doesn’t force a major generating plant to close prematurely.” He said talks are planned with National Grid, the Scottish Government and the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

The Scottish Government wants the reform of the charging regime, stating that generators in Scotland contribute 12 per cent of the electricity but pay around 35 per cent of the charges.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said, “Longannet has the potential to generate affordable, reliable power for years to come and yet it is being priced out of the market.

“We need an urgent rethink on policy for baseload capacity and reform of the UK transmission charging system and I will be writing to UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey to seek an urgent meeting to discuss the future of Longannet and wider energy security.”