Feb 22 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - John Edwards Las Vegas Review-Journal

 

Sithe Global Power of New York is proceeding with plans to build a power plant near Mesquite despite news that Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co. plan to build a power plant near Ely.

"Our view is that the load growth in Southern Nevada justifies both our plant and Nevada Power's plant," said Tom Johns, Sithe vice president of development.

In addition, "the Nevada Power project could experience delays," Johns said.

Both projects are scheduled to start generating power by 2011.

Sithe proposes to build the Toquop Energy Project, a 750-megawatt, coal-fired power plant in southwestastern Lincoln County near Mesquite.

Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co. are planning to anchor their proposed $4 billion Ely Energy Center with two 750- megawatt power plants that would burn pulverized coal to generate electricity and use a 250-mile transmission line to transport the electricity to Nevada Power and Sierra.

In addition, the utilities tenatively are planning to build two plants using coal gasification technology at the center once the technology exists.

The Federal Register on Tuesday reported plans for an environmental study of Sithe's project.

The Bureau of Land Management and Sithe said they will give the public an opportunity to comment on the project during meetings in Las Vegas, Reno, Caliente and Mesquite. They will hold a meeting in Las Vegas on March 23 but the time and location have not been finalized, said spokesman Frank Maisano.