Feb 09 -BOISE -- The Times-News

Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.

So found out Magic Valley legislators working on bills that potentially impact the coal-fired power plant proposed for Jerome County.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted 26-8 to send the so-called "Good Neighbor" bill to the House. The legislation, drafted by Sen. Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, would require that residents in counties adjacent to a proposed thermal power plant site receive notification. Property owners in those counties could voice their concerns at a public hearing. "Many of my constituents live downwind and are actually closer to the plant than the citizens in Jerome," Stennett said. "The jurisdictional boundaries don't make any sense when you're going to locate a large power plant."

Stennett has been an outspoken opponent to the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant that Sempra Generation wants to build northeast of Jerome just miles from the Lincoln County line. The Minority Leader saw his power plant siting bill shot down in an interim legislative committee last summer, but had five personal