GENTRY - The Arkansas Public Service Commission, in a July 10 decision, has determined that the installation of additional environmental controls at the Flint Creek Power Plant in Gentry is in the public interest, clearing the way for the plant’s upgrade to begin and the plant to continue to provide the area with electricity.

To comply with new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, SWEPCO must install additional environmental controls to continue operation of Flint Creek beyond April 16, 2016. SWEPCO has secured from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality a one-year extension beyond EPA’s 2015 deadline to continue operations if the company is in the process of installing controls.

“The Commission has done a thorough job of evaluating our request, and we are very pleased that they have found the Flint Creek retrofit to be in the public interest,” said Venita McCellon-Allen, SWEPCO president and chief operating officer. “The Commission’s decision recognizes that the addition of new technology will allow Flint Creek to meet stringent new EPA regulations and continue providing reliable and affordable power to SWEPCO customers and Arkansas Electric Cooperative members.”

Pending the approval of environmental permits, SWEPCO expects construction of the retrofit equipment to begin in January 2014. To comply with multiple EPA regulations, SWEPCO will install controls for sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.

According to a SWEPCO press release last week, the controls include a dry flue gas desulfurization system, commonly known as a scrubber, to reduce SO2 emissions; low NOx burners and overfire air to reduce NOx emissions; activated carbon injection to reduce mercury emissions; and a fabric filter, commonly known as a baghouse, to filter particulate matter. The estimated direct cost of the project is $408 million. SWEPCO’s 50 percent share is $204 million.

SWEPCO and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. each own 50 percent of the 528-megawatt coal-fueled plant. SWEPCO operates the facility. As a base-load unit, Flint Creek provides power 24 hours a day. It is the only base-load power plant in Northwest Arkansas.

According to the SWEPCO press release, the estimated cost impact for SWEPCO’s Arkansas customers, beginning in 2017, would be an increase of approximately $2.97 per month, or 3.85 percent for a residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month. For commercial customers, the increase would be approximately 3.87 percent.

Flint Creek has 69 employees and an annual payroll of $3.9 million. The project will create approximately 300 construction jobs at peak and 20 to 30 permanent jobs to operate the new equipment.

The decision is of major economic importance to Gentry and the surrounding area. Had the retrofit plan not been approved and the Flint Creek Power Plant shut down after new Environmental Protection Agency regulations go into effect in 2015, the Gentry School District stood to lose approximately $600,000 annually due to the lost tax revenue for mills above the 25 mills guaranteed by the state, according to a public comment filed by Barrett with the APSC in March.The loss of the power plant would also have cost the state an additional $800,000 per year to make up for lost revenue to support the guaranteed 25 mills, making total losses to the state and the Gentry School district approximately $1.4 million annually.

A public hearing, conducted by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, was held last night (after press time) in Gentry to consider SWEPCO’s draft air permit.

News, Pages 1 on 07/17/2013