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Posted on Fri, Dec. 07, 2007
By MARK WIEBE
The Kansas City Star
BPU Scraps Plans for Coal-Fired Plant in KCK
After several years of planning, the Board of Public Utilities has shelved plans for a new coal-fired power plant in Kansas City, Kan.
The utility’s administration announced at a meeting Thursday that it would not include costs for a power plant in the 2008 budget. Instead, administrators said they would look into building a combustion turbine fueled by natural gas.
Initially slated to be completed by 2012, the plant would have been designed to meet the BPU’s increasing demand for power in Wyandotte County. The utility had gone so far as to award a $2.7 million contract to Black & Veatch for preliminary engineering services in 2006.
Board President Robert Milan Sr. said Friday that the utility was facing the prospect of additional costs, many arising from environmental regulations, which would push the project far beyond the latest estimates of roughly $600 million.
“I don’t know what the cost would be now, but I’m sure it would be more expensive,” Milan said.
BPU spokeswoman Susan Allen said in an e-mail message: “We are winding down our work on the proposed coal-fired power plant.”
She declined to say why.
Now, the BPU must turn its attention to how else it can meet the increasing demand for power. In addition to natural gas, Milan suggested other sources.
The BPU is already investing in a small amount of wind energy.
“We’re trying to find the most reasonable cost to find power,” Milan said. “Maybe it’s gas. Maybe it’s nuclear. Maybe it’s solar.”
The BPU has been the target of civil and criminal investigations from the Environmental Protection Agency, and General Manager Don Gray said in March that those inquiries would probably put the power plant on hold.
Gray made those comments after The Kansas City Star wrote about a BPU document that had been leaked anonymously in March. The BPU report identified at least 15 upgrades at power plants that might have violated the federal clean-air act.
The document, called a “liability analysis,” said the BPU could face thousands of dollars in fines.
But Milan denied that Thursday’s announcement had anything to do with the inquiry.
Like all other Kansas utilities, BPU must also contend with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s decision to deny a permit for a new coal-fired power plant in western Kansas.
In Wyandotte County, the need for a new power plant has been a matter of debate.
The Unified Government, which owns the BPU, has requested an audit of the BPU’s finances. The audit was to include an analysis of the need for the plant.
The audit has not been released.
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