Dozens of proposals to build new coal-fired power plants are pending on or near the Colorado Plateau.  These plants could be significantly cleaner than those built in the past. However, they will still contribute to impaired visibility, high ozone levels, increases in mercury in streams and lakes, consumption of large quantities of water, and adverse effects on human health.  They will also be large sources of carbon dioxide and contributors to global warming. 

The Trust opposes the construction of new coal-fired power plants on the Colorado Plateau due to the environmental impacts they cause, including air pollution, water consumption, coal mine impacts, and groundwater contamination. To further the goal of stopping the construction of any new coal-fired plants–or to ensure that if they are built, they are as clean as is technologically possible–the Trust is a member of the steering committee and active participant in the Western Clean Energy Coalition (WCEC), which is housed at Western Resource Advocates, based in Boulder, Colorado. WCEC assists local residents opposed to new plants in their community organizing efforts; works on media campaigns and coalition building; provides technical information about proposed coal plants, alternative energy, and regulatory processes; helps groups that want to submit comments on proposed power plant permits; and helps provide legal assistance for potential permits appeals and other legal actions.

We are engaged in the following power plant proposals.

Desert Rock
In April 2003, the Sithe Power Company announced that it was planning to build a 1,500-megawatt power plant (named the “Desert Rock Energy Facility”) near Farmington, New Mexico in the northwestern corner of the state. The plant would be located within a few miles of the Four Corners and San Juan power plants, two of the largest sources of air pollution in the Southwest. The Navajo Nation will be a partner in the plant if it is built. Because the plant is built on the Navajo Reservation, EPA Region 9 is the permitting authority. Sithe submitted a permit application in 2004, but a final permit has not been issued.

Intermountain Power Plant
The Intermountain Power Plant (IPP) is located in western Utah near Delta. It consists of two 875-megawatt units that were recently upgraded to produce 950 megawatts (gross) each. The City of Los Angeles takes roughly 45 percent of the power that the plant produces. In 2003, IPP produced 3,400 tons of sulfur dioxide, 27,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, and 15 million tons of carbon dioxide. In 2002, the owners of IPP announced their intention to expand the plant by adding a third 900-megawatt unit and Los Angeles was actively involved in the expansion. Then in August 2005, Mayor Hahn pulled the city of the negotiations and reallocated the money that would have gone towards the expansion to developing renewable energy sources for the city. The Utah Division of Air Quality issued a final permit for the expansion in October 2004.

Nevco
Nevco Energy Company is proposing to build a 270-megawatt power plant near Sigurd, Utah, which is in the Sevier River valley in the central part of Utah. Many local residents oppose the construction of the plant and have formed a group called the Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water. The Utah Division of Air Quality issued a draft permit in March 2004, and the Trust and other organizations filed extensive comments. A final permit was issued in October 2004, which was appealed by the Trust and Sierra Club. The Sierra Club and Western Resource Advocates are continuing to appeal the permit.

Mustang
Peabody Energy announced in 2001 that it intended to build a 300-megawatt power plant near Grants, New Mexico. The New Mexico Environment Department determined that the permit was complete in 2002, but the Department also determined that Peabody had not done a thorough job of analyzing the various options for minimizing pollution from the facility, pointing to the lack of a comprehensive assessment of IGCC (gasifying the coal and burning the syngas in a turbine). Peabody submitted a new analysis in 2003, but as of late 2004, final permit had not been issued.

Links
Western Clean Energy Campaign
Environmental Defense
Clean Air Task Force
Western Resource Advocates
San Juan Citizen’s Alliance
Sierra Club
Energy Foundation

(Back to Air Quality and Energy Program Index)