Published: February 26, 2008 09:41 am      

Environmentalists propose alternative to Clark County coal-fire generator

By investing as little as $11 million a year in conservation and renewable sources, East Kentucky Power Cooperative could eliminate the need for a half-billion-dollar coal-fired generating plant it proposes to build in Clark County, three environmental groups claim.

EKPC hopes to start construction next year on the facility at Trapp, just across the Kentucky River from Madison County.

At a Thursday press conference in Lexington, the Berea-based Kentucky Energy Foundation, along with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Sierra Club, outlined a program they say could serve consumer needs while emitting no carbon dioxide or other pollutants into the air.

Winchester-based EKPC supplies power to 16 non-profit distribution cooperatives, including Bluegrass Energy and Clark Energy, which serve large sections of Madison County. About 500,000 homes, farms and businesses get their electricity from EKPC, Nick Comer, the cooperative’s spokesperson, said Friday.

Electricity consumption in EKPC’s service region as been growing 3 percent annually — more than the national average — and the new plant would provide its members with a “reliable, affordable” source of power for the foreseeable future, Comer said.

The plant would use “clean-coal,” fluidized-bed technology that “drastically” reduces the emission of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury, he said.

EKPC still needs approval from the Kentucky Division of Air Quality and the U.S. Rural Utility Service before it can start construction. The Kentucky Public Service Commission already has given its approval. EKPC hopes to start construction in 2009 and put the plant on-line in 2012.

“Fluidized-bed combustion is proven technology,” Comer said. “It’s already in use at the E.A. “Ned” Gilbert Power Plant at Spurlock Station in Mason County.” (Gilbert, who lives in Berea and still serves on the Bluegrass Energy board, was its chair for more than 34 years.)

Even if fluidized-bed combustion eliminated all sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions — and the environmentalists question its effectiveness — it does not reduce the release of carbon dioxide, which is blamed for a rise in global temperatures, said Elizabeth Crowe of the Kentucky Environmental foundation.

Comer said EKPC keeps “close watch on the potential for regulation of carbon emissions anytime we’re looking at meeting future energy needs.” The cooperative already uses some alternative energy sources and its distribution cooperatives’ incentive programs have for years encouraged conservation with incentives for appliance replacement and building insulation. At their annual meetings, the cooperatives give away thousands of fluorescent light bulbs.

EKPC captures methane — a greenhouse gas — from five Kentucky landfills and burns it to produce electricity. The methane otherwise would escape into the atmosphere. EKPC also distributes electricity from hydroelectric generators in the Laurel River and Wolf Creek Dams.

The environmental groups’ alternatives, outlined in a 46-page volume, include ambitious conservation programs as well as more emphasis or renewable sources.

“We need a sincere commitment to conservation from EKPC and not just window dressing,” Crowe said.

The environmentalists cite conservation as the quickest and most cost-effective” way to reduce adverse by-products of electricity production. Nearly a third of Kentucky’s electricity consumption could be eliminated if their conservation plan were implemented, they said.

They recommend replacing inefficient water heaters, refrigerators, air conditioners, light bulbs and heat pumps as well as installation of programmable thermostats.

The upfront impact of appliance replacement on low-income households could be minimized if the cooperative adopted a financing plan similar to New Hampshire Electric Cooperative’s Pay As You Save program, they said. Repayment would be part of members’ electric bills and would be offset by projected savings.

Savings to EKPC’s industrial/commercial members could be realized through high-efficiency motors, variable-speed devices and air conditioner tune-ups.

Solar water heaters supplemented by conventional heaters in both homes and businesses such as motels could substantially reduce electricity demand, they said.

Home solar systems cost from $3,000 to $4,000 with commercial systems running about $24,000. The systems would pay for themselves over their 25-year lifetimes. Again, initial costs could be minimized if financed through the cooperatives, the environmental groups said.

Surrounding states are all developing wind-powered generating systems, and the environmentalists want Kentucky to catch the wind as well. West Virginia’s Appalachian Power Co. has begun purchasing electricity generated by wind farms in Illinois.

The cost of such programs, estimated at $11 million annually, would be less than the settlements that EKPC has had to pay in recent years for violating federal environmental standards, Crowe said.

In the past two years, EKPC paid an $11.4 million settlement to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she said. An earlier settlement cost the cooperative $47 million.

In addition to the benefits to rate payers and the environment, less reliance on coal-fire power generation would substantially improved public health, Crowe said.



Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.