Published on Thursday, April 24, 2008

Published on Thursday, April 24, 2008. Last modified on 4/24/2008 at 12:30 am

SME chief: Ruling won't delay plant

By MIKE DENNISON Gazette State Bureau

HELENA - The developer of a proposed 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Great Falls said Monday's landmark ruling on its emissions should not delay the scheduled start of construction this year.

Tim Gregori of Southern Montana Electric Cooperative said a state board's ruling requiring another analysis of plant emissions affects only a small part of plant construction.

"There may be some small tweaks we may or may not have to make at the very tail end of the (construction) process," he said. "We see this as something that may delay certain portions of completing the plant, but not problematic with moving forward on construction."

An official with the environmental group fighting the plant agreed Tuesday with Gregori's take on the ruling. But she said that doesn't mean the plant will be built.

Anne Hedges, program director for the Montana Environmental Information Center, said the plant still faces hurdles on financing and court challenges and remains a bad choice for the co-ops supporting it.

"We think this plant is unnecessary; it will produce power that will be some of the most expensive in the state," she said. "And it will contribute to global warming.

"There are alternatives that are available that have not been explored, that are cheaper, and that are more environmentally sound."

SME proposed the plant nearly four years ago, to provide electricity for at least 60,000 people served by five rural electric co-ops in central and south-central Montana. The city of Great Falls also joined the co-ops as a part-owner of the plant.

A series of federal power contracts that supply the co-ops start to expire this year, and the co-ops need something to replace that power.

On Monday, the state Board of Environmental Review ruled that state regulators did not properly analyze the plant's control of smokestack emissions called PM 2.5, which are microscopically small "particulate matter," or soot.

Once the ruling is finalized in May, SME will have to resubmit part of its air quality permit application, outlining how it will control these particulates. The state will analyze the proposal to ensure that it's the "best available technology."

Hedges said the ruling is significant because Montana has taken a step that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delayed for years: demanding specific regulation of PM 2.5.

"The board is saying EPA is not a credible source of information anymore, and it's going to be up to the states to protect public health, and that's what the board did" Monday, she said. "It's a big deal."

Gregori, the general manager for SME, said the ruling is certainly significant but not a killer for the plant.

The plant still has an air quality permit, which is good until November. Developers believe they can start construction on the $790 million plant by then, even while the changes on PM 2.5 get worked out.

"We only have to modify the equipment that's affected (by the ruling)," Gregori said. "The vast majority of the plant is unaffected by the ruling.

"The actual date of construction will be driven by the actual language of the rule coming out of the (board)," he said.

SME officials say construction would take 52 months. The cost of construction has nearly doubled since the plant was proposed in 2004.

Gregori said power produced by the nonprofit plant is still competitive against other types of power in the market, although he declined to reveal estimates on the final price of the power.

"We believe it's very competitive and offers a better (price) to our members than any other market alternatives we see at this time," he said.