From the Eagle, by Rhonda Holman:
Gov. Mark Parkinson already got what he wanted out of his deal to allow a new coal-fired power plant near Holcomb. Things are less certain for those on the other side of the handshake — Hays- based Sunflower Electric Power Corp. and its champions in the Legislature.
By personally engineering the agreement for a coal plant, the new Democratic governor ended a two-year standoff with the GOP-led Legislature and won passage of clean-energy initiatives that newly position Kansas for the wind power boom, such as net-metering and a renewable portfolio standard.
That achievement stands.
But there are reasons to wonder whether the deal will deliver a coal plant.
The latest comes from President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency, which decided Wednesday that Sunflower’s plans had changed so much it must reapply for a state permit. (Kansas has the authority to issue such permits, but the EPA is responsible for ensuring the state complies with the Clean Air Act in the process.)
The EPA’s decision makes sense. In February 2006, Sunflower sought approval of an air-quality permit for three generating units totaling 2,100 megawatts. The plan was scaled back to two plants by the time Kansas Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby denied the permit in October 2007, citing carbon emissions. The new proposal calls for one 895-megawatt unit.
There also are three years’ worth of new technology and legal rulings to consider. For example, EPA wants Sunflower to evaluate whether to use a cleaner-burning technology at the plant.
The new opportunity for public input should satisfy the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, which asked Bremby last week for new hearings on the plant.
Among the questions going forward is how much it will matter that the governor agreed to controversial language stripping KDHE of its power to deny an air permit for future coal plants based on concerns about carbon emissions.
What might seem a sure thing for Sunflower is subject to federal standards, which are expected to change quickly under the Obama administration. It’s also unclear what kind of impact the House-passed energy bill, should it clear the Senate, might have on such a proposal. Some environmentalists have complained that the bill, in order to attract votes from coal-state Democrats, would give utilities a financial incentive to continue burning coal and restrict legal efforts to block new plants.
And even before the economy fell apart, some banks and other lending entities, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service, were balking at financing new coal-fired plants.
A Sunflower spokeswoman suggested the EPA’s decision was expected, and said the company planned to submit more information to KDHE this fall.
— posted by Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
Still, starting over at KDHE could take another 18 months, with no guarantee of success for Sunflower at the end.
