ADRIAN, Armstrong County — FirstEnergy announced Thursday the closing of six coal-fired power plants in Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Armstrong Power Station in Adrian is on that list.

Mark Durbin, a FirstEnergy spokesman, said the Adrian closing will cost 60 workers their jobs with an overall job loss of 529 across the three states.

Durbin said these plants are being closed because of the surplus of electricity on the market at this time and because of the age of the plants. New environmental regulations had a lot to do with FirstEnergy’s decision, he said.

New regulations concerning the amount of air pollution, specifically mercury releases from coal-fired power plants, known as the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, go into effect soon.

“The Adrian plant has had limited use during the past three years and what it would take to bring the plant up to the new standards, FirstEnergy just can’t recoup those costs,” Durbin said.

“It’s never pleasant to tell people they are going to lose their jobs, but these new regulations forced our hand on the closing of these plants,” he said.

FirstEnergy is looking to relocate current employees for positions in other power plants if it can.

As for the Adrian plant itself, Durbin said it will be mothballed for possible future use.

“There is a chance that at some point in the future it could be refitted with a natural gas turbine, not that I’m saying that’s going to happen,” he said.

The other plants FirstEnergy is closing are: Bay Shore Plant, Units 2-4, Oregon, Ohio; Eastlake Plant, Eastlake, Ohio; Ashtabula Plant, Ashtabula, Ohio; Lake Shore Plant, Cleveland; and the R. Paul Smith Power Station, Williamsport, Md.

All six plants will be closed by Sept. 1.