In November 2024, the leaders of nine municipalities where coal-fired power plants operate wrote a letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, urging him not to dismantle coal units, warning that this would risk a blackout and a drastic loss of jobs. The result? The coal units of the “Dolna Odra” power plant, which were scheduled to be shut down in 2032-2034, are being closed already. Also queued for liquidation are units at the “Kozienice” power plant, “Siersza” in Trzebinia, as well as facilities in Bełchatów and Łaziska Górne. Marek Gróbarczyk, former deputy minister of infrastructure, told niezalezna.pl: “This is a clear action against the security of the Polish state, against energy security. It is directly linked to decisions made in Berlin. Germany has an overproduction of electricity during peak periods, so a sales market is being created here.“
Local governments write a letter
In November 2024, nine local government officials wrote to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, calling for coal units at power plants and combined heat and power plants not to be shut down. Otherwise, this could lead to blackouts, shortages of district heating supplied to homes in winter, and a drastic loss of jobs. The appeal concerned power plants and CHP facilities in Jaworzno, Łaziska Górne and Rybnik in the Silesian Voivodeship, as well as Gryfino, Opole, Trzebinia, Ostrołęka, Kozienice and Połaniec.
What effect did the local governments’ appeal have? Let us examine the situation in the Silesian Voivodeship. Piotr Kuczera, mayor of Rybnik and a party colleague of Donald Tusk, remains silent on the matter. Other local authorities are far more willing to comment.
“At the current stage, we do not have information that the government administration has taken decisions or actions that could change the existing arrangements regarding the energy transition. Local governments continue to point to the need for dialogue and for developing systemic solutions that will allow the transition to be carried out in a safe, responsible and socially fair manner,” Katarzyna Sikora, head of the Press Office in the Department of Promotion, Culture and Sport at the Jaworzno City Hall, told us.
“The city is taking all possible actions”
“The city is taking all possible actions within its competences to ensure that the ‘Łaziska’ power plant can operate for as long as possible, given its importance for the region’s energy security and the local community,” emphasizes Elżbieta Piecha from the Łaziska Górne City Hall. “As for district heating, around 10,000 residents use it, as well as all public utility facilities and most workplaces. The new heating plant mentioned in the public space is planned to be implemented by the company Tauron Heat.“
The press services of the Tauron Group (TAURON), which is responsible for electricity and heat generation and distribution in Silesia, remain silent on the matter.
The Ministry of Energy does not deal with energy matters
Even more surprising is the position of the spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy, who immediately refers inquiries to the Ministry of State Assets – which itself finds this highly unusual. Meanwhile, the Minister of Energy, Miłosz Motyka, is eager to comment in the media on issues of electricity supply to residents. The Communication Department of the Ministry of State Assets responded to our questions as follows:
“The dynamic increase in capacity of renewable energy sources in recent years means that electricity production from conventional sources is being replaced, which affects the reduction of electricity prices on the wholesale market. In the most difficult financial situation under the current market conditions are power plants generating electricity from hard coal, in particular older units with low efficiency and high emissions. Many such power plants are unable to achieve a positive trading margin. The electricity sales price very often does not cover the variable costs of its production. Companies, when making key business and social decisions, always take into account and analyze all possible variants for using existing infrastructure, while also considering the country’s energy security.”
“People are losing their jobs, but there is no one to talk to”
Marek Mrozkowiak, chairman of the National Section of Power Plants and Combined Heat and Power Plants of Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” (NSZZ “Solidarność”), told Niezależna:
“Energy is the most important branch of the economy; there is currently no more important industry. If we want to produce any item, we must first have electricity to run the machine. Energy in Poland is linked to mining. No mining – no energy, and vice versa. The way Donald Tusk’s government treats us, deciding about us without us, is reprehensible. Coal-fired power plants are being shut down and replaced with gas-fired ones. A gas unit requires fewer staff and fewer jobs. There is a need for support and protection for laid-off workers, but there is none. It is like Piotr Duda, the head of ‘Solidarity’, said – ‘there is no one to talk to’. During such talks, something could be arranged. There are no talks, so there is no chance to look for solutions. The largest power plant in Poland is ‘Bełchatów’, which runs on lignite. Closing such a facility will mean structural unemployment within a radius of many kilometers. Employment is provided by the power plant itself and numerous cooperating companies. A similar situation exists in Gryfino at the ‘Dolna Odra’ power plant, where after the closure of coal units many people will already lose their jobs in 2026. I have heard politicians say that ‘electricity comes from the socket and heat from the radiator’, but that is not the case. For electricity to be in the bulb, it must first be produced; for heat to appear in the radiator – likewise. In February 2024, I submitted a letter with five questions about the future of power plants to the Minister of Industry, Ms Marzena Czarnecka. I asked for an urgent response; I still have not received it. And what the Minister of Energy, Mr Miłosz Motyka, says also bears no relation to reality,” Marek Mrozkowiak told us.
“We are facing a blackout, so Germany will sell us energy”
Marek Gróbarczyk, former Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation and former Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, told niezalezna.pl that such decisions open space for the German energy sector.
“The ‘Dolna Odra’ power plant should have strategic importance for Poland. But it does not. Coal-fired power plants are not primarily subject to fluctuations linked to the madness of renewable sources or other energy types – such as gas. ‘Dolna Odra’ also has gas boilers, but coal is an extremely important element that is not subject to global supply threats. We have our own coal and can produce electricity from it without fearing threats from the East. And at this moment, Donald Tusk’s government makes a decision to liquidate coal units. This contradicts common sense. Yes, these units require modernization, but they were scheduled for closure in 2032-34, and Donald Tusk’s government has accelerated this process. It is shutting them down in 2026. This is a clear action against the security of the Polish state and energy security. It is directly linked to decisions made in Berlin. Germany has an overproduction of electricity during peak periods, so a sales market is being created here,” the former minister admitted.
“There will be social unrest”
“In Gryfino, Bełchatów, Kozienice and Łaziska Górne, where power plants earmarked for closure operate, the labor markets are small and closed. The government should have started by concluding a social agreement and securing workers, but it is not doing so. If today someone wants to get rid of people at no cost and without prospects for tomorrow, it means major social unrest and must provoke resistance from Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” Marek Mrozkowiak concludes bitterly.