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.
Let me guess...
CS stands for capsicum spray?
2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile. Tear gas.
At Genoa, WI, the environmentalists forced EPA rules mandating scrubbers to remove sulphur. The scubbed ash cannot be recycled and must be disposed of in landfills. The proposed landfill will be near organic farms. The utility is a co-operative with low cost electricity. The hippies now want no scrubbers because “it will only remove the last 10% of the sulphur” and acid rain is “no longer a problem”. They want the ash shipped back to WY by train. Train transport is now a very high cost input to electric generation. They want high cost gassification that the utility lacks space, money and experience to institute.
They are taking no responsibility for being the cause of the scrubber mandate.
Luckily, utilities have a lot of political clout and operate by different rules than most businesses. So far, the State is not onboard with the protestors and seems to understand that we need electricity.
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