BURLEY — A ballot proposal local voters will decide in
November is about power bills and how to keep them stable, but
it’s also tied to a growing Western environmental issue.
Voters who live within Burley, Heyburn and Rupert city limits
will be asked to invest in a 900-megawatt coal-fired power
plant to be built near Delta, Utah, about 350 miles south of
the Mini-Cassia area.
Planners feeling pressed to secure a stable electric supply
say the Utah plant gives the community room to grow and rate
stability.
“This is like having adequate sewer and water,” Burley Mayor
Jon Anderson said.
“In our estimation this is a really important thing for the
future growth of our city, because we would hate to have
someone come in and say, ‘You can’t put lights on in our
building, so we have to go somewhere else.’“
Each city needs two-thirds voter approval to issue bonds for
the amount of power they want to reserve. The debt will be
repaid through electrical rates.
Cost will be about $2.3 million per megawatt to finance the
nearly $2.1 billion plant.
For Heyburn that is 1 megawatt at $2.3 million; for Rupert
it’s 3 megawatts at $6.9 million; and for Burley it’s 10
megawatts at $23 million.
The debt is to be repaid over 30 years through electric rates
that will commence once the plant is completed in 2012. When
the debts are repaid, the utilities will be part owners in the
plant.
Local utilities see more stability investing in the plant than
turning to the wholesale power market to meet electricity
needs.
“Everyone who is participating believes it will be lower price
than market when it comes on line,” said Jackie Coombs,
customer service administrator with Utah Associated Municipal
Power Systems based in Salt Lake City.
The organization has 48 members in six Western states. It
secures additional power resources for public utilities. The
Delta plant is one such project.
The upcoming ballot vote follows Magic Valley residents’
successful campaign earlier this year to stop construction of
a coal-fired power plant near Jerome. The state has since
barred coal plant construction.
Idahoans already consume coal power — just not any generated
within Idaho’s borders. Coal power generated in other states
and transmitted here through the power grid along with
electricity from other sources — including natural gas and
some renewable energy — make up deficits in the Columbia River
Basin hydropower system. More than 150 new coal-fired plants
are in planning stages around the country, according to the
U.S. Department of Energy.
Environmental policy groups such as Western Resource Advocates
and others are gearing up to take on the issue.
They advocate that if coal is needed, the industry should use
a cleaner technology that involves gasification of coal and
less water. It costs more, and developing it may require
federal incentives.
The Utah plant, called the Intermountain Power Plant Unit 3,
already has secured an air permit and must operate with
current clean air requirements. It will be built next to two
existing 900 megawatt coal plants.
Environmental issues are a concern, said Ralph Williams,
general manager of United Electric Co-op in Heyburn.
United Electric serves customers in Minidoka and Cassia
counties and is joining the three local cities and Idaho Falls
in considering buying into the Delta plant.
United Electric’s board has the discretion to make the
decision, so voters served by United will not see the proposal
on the ballot. United is looking at reserving 5 megawatts at a
cost of $11.5 million.
“It all comes down to what is the most stable, reliable and
affordable power source,” Williams said.
Conservation along with renewable energy such as wind and
solar power are important components of the company’s
portfolio, but the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind
doesn’t always blow, Williams said.
Renewable power is a fuel-saver to be used when available, but
it is not a stable main power source, he said.
Planners agree conservation is vital to the region. BPA says
its programs have captured savings equivalent to a large
nuclear power plant.
Jennifer Sandmann can be reached at local_mcnews@
hotmail.com.
Copyright © 2006, Lee
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