Another Blow For Old King Coal

The Coal Plant in Marshalltown is dead. Despite a massive effort to "git 'r done"--the Alliant Energy plant planned for Marshalltown has been called off. According to Alliant Energy:

The decision to cancel the project is based on a combination of factors including the current economic and financial climate, increasing environmental, legislative and regulatory uncertainty regarding regulation of future greenhouse gas emissions and the terms placed on the proposed power plant by regulators.

“Our company and our partners appreciate the tremendous support demonstrated for this project by our labor partners, industry, agriculture and business leaders, the community of Marshalltown and economic development organizations across the state," says Tom Aller, president-IPL. “While our company is disappointed in this missed opportunity to further Iowa’s efforts to grow its economy and position our state as a leader in renewable energy, we will continue to focus our efforts on expanding our renewable energy resources and energy efficiency initiatives and reducing our environmental impact.

Concerted effort by environmental activists to prevent the plant from being permitted and built was largely responsible for slowing the project. "Given the fact that clean coal is still a theory and that federal legislation to limit global warming pollution from power plants is inevitable, the smart money is now on clean, renewable energy," said Marian Riggs Gelb, executive director for the Iowa Environmental Council.

In an article in the Des Moines Register, Senate majority leader Mike Gronstal says:

“Warren Buffett says Iowa has the most progressive policy in the country as it related to energy production. We've done that with both base-load capacity for coal-fired plants. We've done it with natural gas plants and we have become a world leader in wind energy. And we’ve done that all by working with those folks."

“I want to keep Iowa a world leader particularly in the area of wind energy and other renewable sources of energy,” Gronstal said. “We’re going to have discussions with those folks. They’ve made their decision and we’ll consult with them. We’ll hear they’re concerns, we’ll decide if we’re going to act.”

The Plant is Dead, Long Live the Coal-Fired Power Plant?

The coal-fired power plant planned for Waterloo, IA has been put on hold, but is it a permanent hold or just until the economic climate gets better? Thanks to the efforts of activist groups like Sierra Club and local grassroots efforts, Dynergy and LS Power have called off their joint venture which would have included the Waterloo plant. Bruce Williamson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Dynegy Inc., said in a statement on 1/2/09 “Today, the development of new generation is increasingly marked by barriers to entry including external credit and regulatory factors that make development much more uncertain."

This climate may not change in the near future, however, the Houston Business Journal reports that "LS Power will acquire full ownership and developmental rights associated with various “greenfield” projects under consideration in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan and Nevada, as well as other power generation and transmission development projects not related to Dynegy’s existing operating portfolio of assets. It will also receive about $19 million in cash during the first quarter for assets exchanged." While it appears for the forseeable future that the plant is off-line, it may be too soon to call the project entirely D.O.A. and meanwhile, there is still the matter of the plant in Marshalltown.

Old Clean Coal?

After reading about the coal "fly ash" disaster in Tennessee where a billion gallons of coal slurry from a coal-fired power plant(along with its by-products arsenic and mercury) was washed into the Tennessee River after a retaining wall holding it back in a storage tank collapsed, I question whether there is anything clean about coal. Coal-burning plants currently produce about half the electricity in the United States.

This spill is affecting two tributaries of the Tennessee River. The Tennessee is a major river system and a drinking water source for millions of people downstream in Chattanooga, plus Alabama, west Tennessee and Kentucky. The EPA claims that the drinking water in the area is safe, but the arsenic levels in the river water itself are at dangerous levels for fish and aquatic life. Water from other sources that are not normally treated, such as private drinking water wells or springs, may be contaminated if impacted by the release of the fly ash. These sources of water should not be used for drinking, cooking or bathing until they have been evaluated. EPA and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation continue to sample drinking water wells, municipal water, soils, river water and river sediment.

Two environmental activists were detained by TVA police Friday as the utility stepped up security around the site of the ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant.
"All we are doing was taking pictures," David Cooper, with the non-profit environmental group United Mountain Defense.

Cooper and another activist, Matt Landon, say that's when TVA officials confronted them. "There was a little pull-off on the road and we pulled over and we were immediately accosted and told they would be arrested," Cooper said. The two men say they were then detained by police on a portion of road is now blocked off by an increased presence from TVA police.

According to Coal is Dirty, fly ash is is collected in coal plant smokestacks, stored on site and often is recycled into construction material. Before pollution controls, the ash simply spewed into the air. Now it's placed in retention ponds or in dry storage. There is three times as much coal ash as municipal solid waste generated in America every year. ( "Big Coal," Jeff Goodell page 123). About 130 million tons of coal ash and power plant scrubber sludge are generated annually. "Coal ash contains heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, and lead. An article in Scientific American magazine dated Dec 13, 2007 states that coal ash is more radioactive than nuclear waste."

We need green energy: geothermal, wind, wave, and solar. The transition is underway, but we need to invest in the infrastructure so that coal plants can be phased out as soon as possible. The best part is it will create new jobs as well as reduce green- house gases dramatically.

What Iowa's governor Can Learn From Kansas' Governor

The Wonk Room reports:

In October of last year, the administration of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) denied permits for two new coal-fired plants in her state because the greenhouse gases such coal plants would emit constitute a threat to the environment and public health. Last Friday, she also vetoed a legislative attempt to reverse the decision. Opponents of the veto claimed “the decision is costing the state jobs and economic investment” and warned of “higher electric bills for Western Kansas,” where the plants were proposed.

But a landmark report released yesterday by an esteemed financial research firm finds that, in fact, Sebelius has been acting in her state’s best economic interests.

Innovest Strategic Value Advisors finds that Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, the company whose proposal was denied, failed to account for the effects of the likely regulation of carbon dioxide on the cost of coal-fired electricity when it sought to build two 700 MW coal plants in Holcomb, Kansas:

Innovest examined the economics of the transaction and determined that under the most plausible regulatory scenarios the decision to build new coal generating capacity will put Sunflower Electric’s ratepayers – who in this particular case are the actual owners – at significant risk. The report concludes that Sunflower’s management has not adequately addressed the competitive and financial risks associated with climate change in deciding to pursue the expansion of its Holcomb Station power plant.

Sunflower was remiss in not considering that federal legislation that places a price on carbon emissions is extremely likely, considering the bipartisan support and strong international pressure for such action.

The report compares the economics of coal plants versus natural gas plants, which have a considerably smaller carbon footprint.

It's No Go for Waterloo Coal-Fired Plant

An energy plant that has generated controversy in the Waterloo area has been denied the ability to begin construction. According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Iowa regulators have denied a construction permit for a proposed $1.3 billion coal-burning power plant in Waterloo because its developers don't have legal control of the project site.

The application from Elk Run Energy Associates LLC and LS Power Development LLC was rejected today by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, less than four days after the application was filed.

Elk Run and LS Power "failed to meet the requirement to show legal entitlement to the property at the proposed location," the DNR said in a prepared statement.

The application was denied because the site proposed for the plant in Black Hawk County is zoned for agriculture, according to DNR officials. Waterloo has attempted to annex the property, but the City Development Board has denied the request. The denial is under legal appeal.

Elk Run Energy plans to ask the state to reconsider the permit application denial, according to a statement released by the company late Thursday. Elk Run Energy believes state regulations allow the state to continue with the evaluation of its permit request, the statement said.

DNR officials had already indicated that Elk Run and LS Power had alternatives.

"Elk Run and LS Power can submit another construction permit application after revisions are made to meet the objections specified in the application denial," Air Quality Bureau Chief Catharine Fitzsimmons said in a prepared statement. "At that time, it will be treated as a new project."

The 750-megawatt Elk Run Energy Station would be the first "merchant" power plant built in Iowa in modern times built to sell power at wholesale to entities unrelated to the owner. It faces strong opposition from some neighboring property owners and environmental groups concerned about the long-term effects of the plant's carbon emissions on climate change and on the health effects of toxic emissions such as lead and mercury.

About 17 farmers are also in opposition to a 10-mile transmission line proposed to link the project to the electric grid, according to Carrier La Seur of Cedar Rapids-based environmental law center Plains Justice, which is representing the farmers.