Nesquehoning residents have wondered in recent weeks why the usually bustling Panther Creek Power Operating cogeneration plant has stood relatively silent.

The reason for the recent significant decrease in activity at the plant along Dennison Road off Route 54 between the Hauto Valley Estates and Lake Hauto Club private community is due to plummeting energy prices, asset manager Matthew J. Cochran said this week, noting that the company was also forced to reduce the number of staff currently employed at the facility."It's not profitable to make energy right now," Cochran said."The reason for the reduction in staff and the temporary shutdown is energy prices within (the) PJM (Energy Market) are just too low. We will resume operations as prices recover."Cochran did not release how many employees were let go at this time, but added that there is still "sufficient manpower to operate the plant."The largest impact to Pennsylvania waste coal plants like Panther Creek and several others around the state is the abundance of natural gas trapped here and the lack of pipelines to remove it."Essentially there is too much natural gas in Pennsylvania," Cochran said, noting that power plants that use natural gas can't consume enough of it to keep prices up at this time.