Feb 23 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Michelle Dunlop The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho

 

Vote down certain anti-coal-fired power plant bills or kiss the project proposed for Jerome County goodbye.

Thus was the message an official of Sempra Energy conveyed to a legislative committee on Wednesday.

Next week, the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee will consider a piece of legislation that would place a two-year moratorium on permitting or building plants like Sempra's anticipated 600-megawatt facility northeast of Jerome. If the Legislature approves such a bill, the energy company will take its business elsewhere, Sempra's Bruce McCulloch told committee members.

"It would send a very strong signal to us that, basically, you're not interested," he said.

McCulloch serves as Sempra's project manager its Idaho Valley Energy project. Company officials are troubled by both the moratorium bill, drafted by Rep. Sharon Block, R-Twin Falls, and a piece of legislation recently introduced by House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley. Newcomb's legislation, which was sent to print on Tuesday, gives the Legislature ultimate authority to approve the transfer of large quantities of water to be used by power plants.

The Idaho Department of Water Resources grants water transfers in the state. The House Speaker's legislation would require additional approval by the state legislature for transfers like Sempra's. Newcomb told the House Resources and Conservation Committee that he's trying to keep Idaho's water in state hands.

"There's not a lot of difference between transferring power out of state and transferring water out of state," he said.

The electricity generated by Sempra's Jerome plant would be sold somewhere in the Pacific Northwest -- a region that collectively has identified a need for 6,000 megawatts of coal-fired power by 2015, McCulloch said.

"We believe the market is here and now," McCulloch said.

Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, questioned McCulloch whether Sempra would go through an estimated $10 million permitting process if the company didn't have a guarantee the Legislature would approve its water transfer under Newcomb's bill.

The answer was no.

"It's a huge problem for us or for anyone who wants to develop a thermal plant in Idaho," McCulloch said.

Reporter Michelle Dunlop covers the Legislature and natural resources for The Times-News. She can be reached in Boise at 343-5553 or by e-mail at mdunlop@magicvalley.com.