Sierra Club calls on governor for coal plant project moratorium

Sierra Club calls on governor for coal plant project moratorium

Washington (Platts)--29Sep2006

Airing a laundry list of concerns, the Sierra Club has asked Kansas Governor
Kathleen Sebelius to issue a moratorium on the permitting of coal-fired power
plants in the state.

The organization also wants the governor to "convene a blue ribbon panel of
experts to examine the environmental, health, and economic development impacts
of the proposed coal plants at Holcomb and the other coal plants planned by
Westar and the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities."

Sunflower Electric Power announced Tuesday that it had gained a draft air
permit for three 700-MW coal-fired units that will each burn 400 short
tons/hour of western low-sulfur coal at its Holcomb, Kansas, plant site (PCT
9/28). The utility is currently rounding up partners for the project.

Westar Energy is considering building a new coal-fired power plant in Kansas
beginning in 2008, needing to increase capacity by 2012 (PCT 5/24/05).
Possible plant size is 800 MW. Topeka, Kansas-based Westar has been conducting
site studies to determine the location of the plant.

"We have not announced the location, the technology or the size" of that
project, BPU spokeswoman Susan Allen told Platts Thursday. BPU signed a
contract with Black & Veatch in February to perform feasibility and planning
studies, she said.

Sierra takes issue with Holcomb
Sierra Club called a Tuesday press conference in particular to express the
organization's concerns about the Holcomb project, which it claimed in a
statement "will create the largest coal burning electric power complex west of
the Mississippi River. These three new coal burning plants will also be the
largest new source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. These
plants will emit 13 million tons a year of carbon dioxide for the next 50 to
75 years."

"It's going to put out only the amount [of emissions] that the state of Kansas
deems appropriate" and CO2 is not a regulated pollutant, Sunflower spokesman
Steve Miller told Platts on Thursday. He said he's not sure how much CO2 it
would put out.

"These plants, when operational, are following every rule and law that state
and federal regulators have put in service?" Sierra Club does not like these
laws and should work to change them at the legislative level, Miller said.

The Sierra Club claimed that Sunflower's air pollution control permit
application will potentially lead to a 60% increase in the amount of mercury
emitted from all coal-burning power plants currently operating in Kansas.
Again, Miller said that the permitted emissions comply with federal and state
laws.

On the organization's charge that Sunflower's existing 360-MW Holcomb 1 unit
already meets the needs of the company's 115,000 customers in western Kansas,
and that Sunflower doesn't "need to increase the size of their baseload
capacity by a factor of more than 6," Miller pointed out that Kansas exports
corn, milo and wheat to other states, and exporting power is entirely valid.

Moratorium only if state advisers recommend it
The governor would consider a moratorium only if the Kansas Energy Council and
Kansas Department of Health and Environment recommended one, Sebelius Press
Secretary Nicole Corcoran told Platts.

"The Kansas Energy Council deals with recommendations that impact energy and
our environment," she said. "The KEC works closely with KDHE to explore these
issues as they form recommendations for our state's comprehensive energy
policy. Governor Sebelius counts on these experts for their guidance and would
consider suggestion of a moratorium only if recommended by the Kansas Energy
Council and KDHE as part of a comprehensive energy plan."

Sebelius will "continue to focus on both wind energy and clean coal
technologies as we work to harness potential energy in Kansas," Corcoran said.

-- Steve Hooks, steve_hooks@platts.com

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