Jun. 20--SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA--Edison announced Monday it has abandoned plans to return its Mohave Generating Station to service.

The coal-fired facility in Laughlin, Nev. was shut down in late December for failing to meet air pollution standards. The plant had generated about 7 percent of the Southland's electricity although it reportedly produced high levels of sulphur dioxide emissions.

Three environmental groups filed a lawsuit against Edison, alleging the plant contributed to haze in the Grand Canyon.

The utility subsequently entered into an agreement with the groups whereby the company would upgrade environmental controls at the generating facility at a cost of about $1billion.

SCE, a division of Rosemead-based Edison International, had been using water from an aquifer to push pulverized coal through a pipeline to the Mohave plant. But local Indian tribes -- who hold the rights to the use of that water -- wanted the utility to find another water source.

On Monday, Edison announced that the challenges -- when taken together -- had became "insurmountable."

"After discussing this decision with our co-owners, all have agreed to jointly develop a plan for the plant's future," Edison spokesman Gil Alexander said. "We believe everything reasonably possible was done to return Mohave to service."

Alexander said timing was a big factor in Edison's decision to back out of the picture.

"For the upgrade investment to be cost effective to our customers, we concluded that the facility would have to be back in operation by 2010," he said. "And in 2026 the plant's right to cooling water from the Colorado River would expire."

Matt Freedman, a staff attorney for the Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit consumer organization that represents residential and small business customers of California's large, investor-owned utilities, said he was surprised by Edison's decision.

However, he agreed it makes sense.

"Overall, we think it's probably the right decision," he said. "There are lots of hurdles associated with bringing the plant back online, and the result would be a coal-fired power plant. California is looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions connected with it's electrical supply. This wouldn't fit in with those goals."

Edison owns a 56 stake (or 885 megawatts) in the Mohave Generating Station. One megawatt is enough to serve the electricity needs of 650 homes at any given time.

The other owners are Salt River Project (20 percent, or 316 megawatts); Nevada Power Co. (14 percent, or 221 megawatts); and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (10 percent, or 158 megawatts).

All of the other owners -- with the exception of Salt River Project -- agree the challenges outweigh the needed fixes to bring the plant back online.

Alexander said Edison has already secured enough additional power from other sources to make up for the loss of the Mohave plant.

"There are adequate power supplies for this summer, barring any extreme or unforeseen circumstances," he said.

Alexander noted, however, that California's burgeoning population growth will fuel increasing power needs in the coming years.

Southern California Edison serves a population of more than 13 million people via 4.7million customer accounts in a 50,000-square- mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.