Thank you to everyone who has remained on this Tribe in case we chose to take action against the proposed coal plant near Gerlach. The fight isn't over yet, but we are seeing some major victories!!

*********************

RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Planned Sempra plant may not have buyer for its power

Susan Voyles (svoyles@rgj.com)
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
November 23, 2005

Perhaps ushering in a new era in the Western fight against global warming, the California Energy Commission has adopted a policy prohibiting investor-owned utilities from signing long-term contracts to import power from new coal-burning plants.

That would cover the 1,200-megawatt Granite Fox power plant proposed by Sempra Energy near Gerlach and 30 other planned coal-fired plants in the West.

"The writing is on the wall," said Jon Wellinghoff of the Nevada Clean Energy Coalition. "Investors should think twice before risking their money in the Sempra Granite Fox coal-fired power plant since California, the biggest potential customer, is no longer interested in buying dirty, coal-fired power."

Sempra Energy media relations manager Art Larson conceded the new California energy policy will make power from the Gerlach plant more difficult to sell to California's investor-owned utilities. Larson said Granite Fox could sell to California investor-owned utilities for less than three years and without restrictions to public utilities.

He said power from Granite Fox would provide consumers with "affordable and reliable energy from one of the nation's cleanest, most efficient coal-fired plants" while natural gas prices are volatile and renewable power cannot be counted on every day.

But the California commission's Monday decision has environmentalists in Wyoming thinking their rich coal fields will be used for coal gasification plants rather than coal-fired plants, according to the Jackson Hole, Wyo., Star Tribune.

That could slow construction of the proposed 1,300-mile Frontier transmission line, which would deliver power from Wyoming to Southern Nevada and California and is supported by four governors including Nevada's.

Public utilities provide only 25 percent of California's electrical power. And Claudia Chandler, California Energy Commission assistant director, said the new policy could be expanded to include public utilities before written into state law. The policy is to be forwarded to the governor and the legislature for review.

Some public utilities are not interested in power from new coal-fired plants, said Wellinghoff, Nevada's former energy consumer advocate. The Los Angeles water and power department, for instance, is investing in solar, wind and geothermal power.

In Nevada, Roberto Denis, Sierra Pacific Resources senior vice president, told the state public utilities commission two weeks ago his company, the state's largest utility, has not discussed buying power from the proposed Gerlach plant.

"We are not in discussions or conversations with the plant being built in the northwest part of state," he told the commission. "They have not requested an interconnection to us."

Under the policy adopted Monday, the California commission said the Golden State must step up its production of power from renewable sources. If it were a country, the state would be the 17th largest producer of greenhouse gases, recognized as a major contributor to global warming.

To provide long-term power to California investor utilities, Chandler said power plants built outside the state must meet the same stringent air pollution standards set for power plants in the state. California standards are higher than federal standards for nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and lead.

While natural gas-powered plants generally meet those standards, Wellinghoff estimated the Gerlach plant would have to halve its pollutants to meet the standards.

Sempra Energy officials admitted they chose the location near Gerlach because the pristine air allows more pollution under federal standards and saves money on air scrubbing equipment. An environmental study commissioned by the Bureau of Land Management is under way for the $2 billion plant.

Wellinghoff said the decision could spur development of alternative power sources in Nevada that would still produce jobs and not tap into scarce water sources. These renewable sources could tap into Sierra Pacific power lines, the Pacific transmission line from the Columbia River through Gerlach to Los Angeles and the proposed Frontier line.

At elevations of 4,000 feet or higher, he said Gerlach and many other places in Nevada are too high for coal gasification operations.

David Rumsey, who owns the Parker Ranch near the proposed Gerlach plant, said Sempra Energy would have a difficult time convincing investors to proceed with the Granite Fox project, given the new California policy. The policy is backed up by a similar ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission earlier this fall.

Rumsey said Sempra Energy is fighting three major lawsuits, two filed by the state attorney general and a third by Los Angeles city and county, that collectively claim it manipulated electrical power and natural gas prices during the state's historic energy crisis in 2000-2001. Sempra has acknowledged the $23 billion in possible damages from the Los Angeles case would wipe out the company.