Mission Energy Co.: The Irvine company said...

Mission Energy Co.: The Irvine company said Tuesday that it has dropped plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Gloucester County in New Jersey. Jersey Central Power & Light Co., which had agreed to buy 200 megawatts of the proposed plant’s 362-megawatt capacity, said it is pulling the plug on its commitment to buy power and will pay $17 million to Mission Energy, the Irvine subsidiary of SCEcorp.

Construction never began on the project, which has been thwarted by regulatory and legal problems since it was launched in 1990, Mission Energy said. The termination of the deal will not affect Mission’s balance sheet, said James V. Iaco Jr., senior vice president and chief financial officer.