Posted on 05/15/2008 6:19:51 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Protesters demonstrated Thursday against a coal-powered power plant proposed by Alliant Energy Corp. at Cassville, heartened by an environmental impact statement by state officials that said the proposed plant was "not the least cost option under any scenario."
That statement, in a draft EIS by the Public Service Commission and the Department of Natural Resources, fueled protests by more than 70 environmentalists -- some on bicycles -- chanting "No more coal," prior to Alliant's annual shareholder meeting at the Alliant Energy Center.
Protesters were joined by Thomas Sanzillo, a financial analyst who said that coal prices are likely to rise rapidly in the future, especially if a carbon tax is imposed, leading to rising electricity rates if Wisconsin continues to overly depend on coal plants.
"The proposed plant will pollute our air and water, contribute to global warming, and increase electricity bills for Wisconsin energy users," said Katie Nekola, energy program director at Clean Wisconsin.
The environmental impact statement also said that the proposed Cassville unit is "not the optimal generation choice."
Ken Rineer, an environmental analyst for the PSC who worked on the EIS, added in an interview that an alternative coal plant proposed by Alliant at the site of the existing Columbia plants near Portage also was not optimal, though it uses different technology.
"Our staff modelers found that a super-critical pulverized coal plant, which burns at higher temperatures, would be more efficient, as would a natural gas combined cycle plant that burns natural gas and makes steam," Rineer said.
Such options would cost less and seem to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, he explained.
But William Harvey, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Alliant Energy, defended the proposed 300-megawatt Cassville plant during the shareholders meeting and at a press conference afterward.
The plant, which would be the third coal plant in Cassville, would increase the ability of Alliant to import more energy into the state from the west and south, he said, and it is designed to get up to 20 percent of its fuel from biofuel such as wood chips, cornstalks and switchgrass.
Prairie grass, he said, consumes more CO2 as it grows than is emitted when it burns.
"This is a facility designed to use as much biofuels as we can put into it," Harvey said.
Rineer, however, said that biofuels could work in addition to coal, but that "they need to prove to us that they can get the fuel at a reliable basis at a reliable cost and make it work."
He also said that burning biofuel at the Cassville plant as proposed would not actually reduce greenhouse gases, because of the technology used. Larger quantities of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide would be emitted than at the proposed Portage plant.
The PSC is required to make a decision about the coal plant proposal by the end of the year. The draft environmental impact statement will be revised to reflect comments submitted by the public by mail and e-mail. Public hearings will be conducted at Portage and Cassville after the EIS is complete, officials said.
The draft EIS can be viewed at the PSC website at http://psc.wi.gov. To view the documents, click on the Electronic Regulatory Filing System and enter docket number 6680-CE-170. A printed copy can be obtained by calling 608-266-5481.
The application that Alliant Energy filed with the PSC also is available at local libraries and at the offices of the clerks of municipalities and towns.
Stupid Hippies. Seventy jobless, clueless morons on parade today. *Rolleyes*
Look for electricity rates to double within the next five to ten years.
Let them live with the results of their choices.
How can so many people be so damned stupid so damned often?
Bury them in the nearest landfill for fertilizer.
These people are quickly becoming an active danger to us all.
“Look for electricity rates to double within the next five to ten years.”
You’re right, Bob. I see the future and it is a complete re-hash of the 70’s and all the stupidity we went through with our energy needs at the hands of Carter, et al.
If these lefties are so hell-bent on conserving energy while making it unavailable, or ungodly expensive for the rest of us due to their religion of “global warming” then they need to get off the grid and live in a hut.
Lead by example, you dopey wieners!
See Post #6. ;)
I think that Wisonsinites are finally coming to the realization that Nuclear power is the wave of the future....ya think??...or perhaps they are remembering that Clinton eliminated the U.S. clean coal reserves (Utah near the Grand Canyon) from possible mining so that his buddy in Indinesia could sell us clean coal at his prices....remember???...pathetic
--how times have changed--
What is CS?
To all:
$124 per barrel oil. $21 per million btu
Typical natural gas $10 per million btu
Higrade coal $3 per million btu
Low grade coal $0.83 per million btu
Curious? Ask GOOGLE
Western unit train coal is about $4.50. Still an incredible bargain compared to gas at $11 +
Environmentalists...........tak a long walk off a short pier.
Yea, please, someone explain to me how a NEW power plant producing additional power would increase costs for the customers. Only in the envirowhacko world.
I still remember 32 years ago when some hippies down in the Ozarks were protesting a coal fired plant in NW Arkansas claiming it would burn “High sulfer western coal”! It doesn’t....And when people protested it because it would pollute rivers and streams with ash, and cloud the sky with ash. Bald eagles now populate it’s shores in winter. Deer are all over the place.
“not the least cost option under any scenario.”
The people of Wisconsin should tell the State government to go to Hell.
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