Washington (Platts)--29Jun2009

The US Supreme Court on Monday said it would not hear a power plant
developer's appeal of a lower court ruling that blocked it from building a
534-MW coal-fired plant in southern Illinois.

A US appeals court in Illinois in October 2006 ruled in favor of the
Sierra Club, which argued that a state air permit for the project had expired
and blocked the company from proceeding with work on the project until it
received a new permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The environmental group argued that EnviroPower, which received Illinois
EPA permits for the plant in 2001, failed to begin construction within the
required 18-month period.

EnviroPower appealed the decision to the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals,
which upheld the district court's order in an October 2008 ruling.

In its ruling, the court said similar air permits issued after 2001
contained more stringent emission standards, adding that "time requirements
help ensure that major emitting facilities comply with up-to-date emissions
regulations and do not construct today's facilities with yesterday's
technology."

EnviroPower then appealed to the Supreme Court.

In a statement Monday, Bruce Nilles, director of Sierra Club's Beyond
Coal Campaign, said "EnviroPower has been pursuing its coal plant project for
nearly a decade. The fact that the company tried to take this case all the way
to the Supreme Court, losing at every step along the way, shows how desperate
coal plant developers are these days."

EnviroPower could not be reached for comment immediately.