EPA poised to scuttle deal for Plains power plant

A rural electric cooperative that wants to build more generating capacity in the Great Plains will probably have to go back to the drawing board despite a compromise brokered by the new governor of Kansas. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to tell Sunflower Electric Corp. to "start over," reports David Sassoon of Solve Climate.

When Gov. Mark Parkinson succeeded fellow Democrat Kathleen Sebelius two months ago, he brokered a deal to let Sunflower build one 895-megawatt plant instead of two 700-MW plants that Sebelius, now federal secretary of health and human services, had blocked in the face of strong opposition from utility and coal lobbies at the state legislature. The site is at Holcomb, near Garden City. (Encarta map)

But in late May, "EPA told Sunflower that the company would have to submit a new permit application, provide refreshed technical analysis on whether its plans meet the best available technology, and hold new public hearings before EPA could give it the green light to break ground," according to unnamed "state and federal officials" cited by Sassoon. "Another meeting is planned for today. ... If the talks are conclusive, an official announcement could be forthcoming."

The case could be nationally significant because of the climate bill moving through Congress, which "would set performance standards for coal plants initially permitted after Jan. 1, 2009," Sassoon writes. "By 2025 the plant would have to reduce its emissions by 50 percent. It would add a further large expense that would have to be passed on to Kansas ratepayers," though most of the electricity generated by the plant would go to Colorado and Texas. (Read more)