Dept of Energy agrees to hear complaints over Mirant plant order

Washington (Platts)--21Feb2006

The US Dept of Energy plans to look further into complaints from Virginia
that DOE broke the Federal Power Act when it ordered a largely idle Mirant
Corp power plant in Alexandria, Virginia, ready for full operation to assure
reliable electricity supplies to Washington, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman
said. 

     The Virginia Dept of Environmental Quality and the city of Alexandria in
January asked DOE for a rehearing of a Dec 20 order by Bodman affecting the
480-MW coal plant, which had been closed entirely or partially since August
because of the state's insistence that Mirant curb the facility's emissions.

     The state and the city argued that Bodman had misused his authority under
the Federal Power Act to trump Clean Air Act requirements for the plant.
In issuing the order, Bodman maintained that the Alexandria plant was critical
to assuring reliable supplies of electricity to the capital, particularly when
Potomac Electric Power Co conducted repairs on two 232-kV transmission lines
to the city in January. The plant and the two transmission lines are the only
direct sources of electricity to much of Washington.

     "DOE specifically requests comment concerning the operation of the
Potomac River Generating Station during the days in January 2006 when it was
required to operate pursuant to [Bodman's order], and also specifically
requests comments and information concerning the plant's current operational
status," the secretary said in a follow-up order Friday.

     The December order remains in effect while DOE considers the requests for
rehearing, Bodman said.

     The Mirant plant continues to operate under terms of that order, using
one baseload unit and two cycling units to keep the facility ready for full
production with 28 hours, should it be needed, a company spokesman said
Tuesday. "That's just enough electricity to keep the boilers warm," he said.

     PEPCO completed repairs on the two transmission lines in January, as
scheduled, a spokesman for that company said Tuesday. While PEPCO did not need
the Mirant plant to meet its customers' requirements during the month, the
Bodman order assured that the plant would be available to PEPCO for
reliability purposes, he added.

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