Resurgence of Coal Resurgence in the West
The coal resurgence in the west is old news for the most part, what with all the talk today about renewable energy, climate change, mercury pollution, smog, premature death, and so on and so on. But a new report from the Department of Energy shows that the coal resurgence is, sadly, still alive and well here in the Rocky Mountains.
According to the Department of Energy, 31 new coal burning power plants are proposed for construction or are in the process of being built in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Wyoming alone has 11 plants proposed, with Colorado not far behind at 6.
The news for Colorado is a bit of a surprise. Of the six, Xcel Energy's expansion of its Comanche power plant in Pueblo is included, in addition to:
- A proposal by Tri-State Generation and Transmission to build a 1,000 megawatt coal burning power plant somewhere along the Front Range;
- A proposal by Xcel to build a 300-350 megawatt coal burning power plant somewhere in Colorado;
- A proposal by Radar Acquisitions Corp./Kiewit to build a 400-500 megawatt power plant somewhere in Colorado;
- A proposal by Lamar Light and Power to convert is natural gas power plant to a 39 megawatt coal burning plant;
- A proposal by the Department of Energy itself to build a 150 megawatt coal burning power plant in Colorado Springs, which may be on hold now.
Tri-State's proposal is the most shocking of the bunch. A 1,000 megawatt coal burning power plant is massive, providing enough power for around a million homes. Also, remember that Tri-State Generation and Transmission has been talking about investing in more renewables, energy conservation, and demand side management. Is this just lip service?
With growing recognition that burning more coal will only fuel continued environmental destruction and the decline of our health, the Department of Energy report is a grim reminder that we're still not on the right track.
We may be making progress in some ways, but six new coal burning power plants is six too many in our mind.
posted by Jeremy Nichols @ 8:09 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
We need to stop thinking of coal as only "dirty power" and start thinking about how to use one of our nation's largest energy sources in an environmentally responsible fashion.
Xcel Energy's next coal-fueled plant is an IGCC, which is tentatively scheduled to start up in 2014, pending the PUC's acceptance of the bid. This plant will not only have better acid rain and mercury controls than conventional plants, it will sequester 40-60% of its carbon output. This will be one of the first plants in THE WORLD that generates electricity from coal gasification that also sequesters carbon. Xcel was previously looking at a 300-350MW conventional plant, but have since rejected the merchant's proposal (april 07). If this plant is successful, Xcel will truly be an environmental leader.
I agree that if TSG were to construct a conventional plant, it would be a scourge in our state. However, TSG's board is also looking at building an IGCC in their transmission area. We in Colorado need to push for IGCC's to be the standard for coal in our new energy economy instead of flat out objecting to any new coal plants being constructed.
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