Mar 11 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - John G. Edwards Las Vegas Review-Journal

While opposition and a change in utility rules appears to have stalled -- if not killed -- a coal-fired power plant project north of Reno, efforts to build one near Mesquite are moving forward with community support.

Sithe Global Power plans to build the 750-megawatt, coal-fired Toquop Energy Project in Lincoln County 12 miles northwest of Mesquite.

The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled public meetings for this month to discuss the project in Las Vegas, Mesquite, Caliente and Reno.

In contrast, Sempra Energy has asked the Bureau of Land Management to suspend work for several months on its proposed coal-fired Granite Fox Generating Facility while it reviews the size of the project proposed north of Reno.

Sempra, however, encountered fierce opposition from local environmental groups, who objected to the coal-fired plant based on concerns about air pollution and water consumption.

So far, no organized opposition has emerged for the Toquop project.

Tommy Rowe, Lincoln County Commission chairman, is an enthusiastic backer of the project, which would be an enormous boost to the county's economy.

The $1 billion Toquop plant would increase property tax revenue by 12 times. With additional revenue, the county could hire staff workers to oversee development of Coyote Springs and parcels in an area near Mesquite. But Lincoln County has a small staff.

"We don't even have a county planner now," Rowe said. "We don't have a county manager."

Lincoln County has a sparse population, mainly because the federal government owns 97 percent of its area.

Toquop would also create a boom in activity. The Toquop project would take four years to build and would employ 800 construction workers.

Construction is expected to start in mid-2007, Rowe said. After completion, the power plant would employ 110 full-time workers, Rowe said.

Dan Frehner, a former Lincoln County commissioner, said he started efforts to get a power plant, because it would create jobs and taxes for the county. Not everyone in the county favors the power plant, he said.

"There's opposition to anything," Frehner said. "They want it to stay the way it is."

So far, the biggest community near the plant site seems unconcerned. The Mesquite City Council and Mesquite Chamber of Commerce have not taken a position on the project.

"Quite frankly, the power project has little to no impact on the city of Mesquite," said Mesquite Mayor Bill Nicholes.

"We are willing to do anything that we can to help (Lincoln County) as long as the taxpayers of Mesquite are not burdened," Nicholes said.

David Vincelette, an environmental official with Mesquite, said he expects the council to take a position once the draft environmental impact statement has been released. Mesquite now gets electricity from Overton Power District No. 5, but Mesquite's power needs soon will exceed the Overton district's capacity, he said.

A city alternative energy committee heard a proposal that Mesquite establish its own municipal power utility, but the council took no position on it.

The Bureau of Land Management, meanwhile, has scheduled meetings to outline the project and hear comments from the public. A meeting will be held March 21 in Mesquite City Hall, followed by one the next day at the BLM conference room, 4701 Torrey Pines Drive, in Las Vegas. It will conduct meetings in Caliente on March 20 and in Reno on March 23. All meetings start at 6 p.m.

Rowe is optimistic that the plant will be built.

Tom Johns, vice president of Sithe Global Power, the company developing the project, was asked if Toquop would benefit from less competition if the Sempra plant is not built at the other end of Nevada.

"We did not really view that project as being competitive," Johns said.

The majority of power from Granite Fox planned for Southern California, Johns said.

"Our focus is really Southern Nevada and the desert Southwest markets," Johns said.

Nevada Power is one potential buyer of Toquop's electrical production.

Sonya Headen, a spokeswoman for Nevada Power, said on Friday the company negotiated with out-of-state power plant developers but decided to build a coal-fired power plant at Ely when those talks stalled.

"That was not in the best interest of the state of Nevada, or its citizens or the company," she said.

The company might make seasonal purchases from Toquop, she said.

While Las Vegas population growth continues to set a fast pace, Nevada Power in January said it will build two 750-megawatt, coal power units near Ely and a 250-mile transmission line to link the Ely Energy Center with the Las Vegas and Reno areas.

Sempra Energy separately has asked federal officials to shelve plans for the Granite Fox coal-fired plant north of Reno for three to six months.

Jon Wellinghoff, an energy attorney representing the Nevada Clean Energy Coalition, said he believes the Granite Fox project is dead.

Art Larson, a spokesman for Sempra, said Wellinghoff was only speculating. Larson said the San Diego-based energy company is reviewing the size of the project, given recent developments.

California officials have passed regulations that would prohibit utilities in their state from entering into long-term power contracts for electricity from conventional pulverized coal-fired power plants like Granite Fox, he noted.