Georgia Power, state regulatory staff agree on mercury cuts

Boston (Platts)--28Mar2007

Georgia Power Wednesday said it supports a final rule proposed by the
Georgia Environmental Protection Division staff that calls for the state's
largest utility to significantly reduce mercury emissions from its six largest
coal plants by installing scrubbers, selective catalytic reduction equipment
and other controls over the next eight years.

Georgia Power spokesman John Sell said that under the EPD staff's final
"multi-pollutant" proposal, the Southern Company subsidiary would exceed the
requirements of the US Clean Air Mercury Rule, and "meet or exceed" the
requirements of the Clean Air Interstate Rule.

Georgia's Board of Natural Resources on Tuesday directed the EPD staff to
publish the proposed final rule, which board will consider at its June 27
meeting. Environmental interests in Georgia had urged that the EPD set
specific mandates for mercury reduction, Sell said, but later agreed to
Georgia Power's "technology-based" proposal to install the best equipment
currently available.

The proposed rule would require Georgia Power to invest about $4 billion
in emission-control projects at six of its 10 coal-fired plants by 2015, EPD
staff said. According to some estimates, the projects will reduce mercury
emissions by as much as 90%.

--Housley Carr, newsdesk@platts.com