EPA approves haze reduction plan at San JuanSep 27 - Santa Fe New Mexican, The (NM)
Federal regulators announced Friday that they have formally approved a plan to reduce haze from the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station in the Four Corners region by shuttering two of the plant's four units by 2017. The plan also will help the state of New Mexico meet new carbon emissions standards the EPA has proposed for existing power plants. Renewable energy advocates who support the plan for reducing air pollutants now are concerned because a plan to replace the power from the two coal units at San Juan when they are shut down includes nuclear power and more coal. The haze reduction plan was brokered by the state with the EPA , the Navajo Nation and Public Service Company of New Mexico , the state's largest power provider. The plan won't result in anyone at the plant losing their job and is expected to cost ratepayers less than a cleanup plan originally proposed by federal regulators. "Today's EPA approval represents a win for the environment, New Mexico ratepayers, the protection of jobs in Four Corners, the Navajo Nation and PNM," state Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn said in a statement. Under the plan, PNM will retire Units No. 2 and No. 3 at San Juan by Dec. 31, 2017 . PNM will install pollution controls on the other two units and has no date for retiring them. PNM won't lay off any workers after the units are closed, it says, and it will build a natural gas unit at San Juan , which will create construction jobs. PNM also has agreed to provide more than $1 million for job training and economic development. PNM now is seeking approval from state regulators on the company's plans to replace the power from the two San Juan units with a combination of nuclear, natural gas, solar and more coal capacity on the remaining units. Groups like the Sierra Club and New Energy Economy say the power replacement plan won't be the best one for ratepayers or the environment. ___ (c)2014 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at www.santafenewmexican.com |