Work progressing at Power Plant

Affects of new EPA Clean Power Plan on the plant are yet uncertain

GENTRY -- With less than a year to the projected finish date, work continues at AEP SWEPCO's Flint Creek Power Plant in Gentry. The facilities are scheduled to be in service the by end of May 2016.

"Work is progressing well on the environmental retrofit project. We have almost 600 contractors on site as major mechanical and electrical construction is in full stride, and we anticipate the work force will peak at almost 700 this summer," said Peter Main, principal communications consultant for AEP SWEPCO.

According to Main, AEP SWEPCO and plant co-owner Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. are investing $408 million ($204 million each) to install the additional environmental controls at the 528-megawatt, coal-fueled plant. The project is driven by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and future Regional Haze rules.

Some have questioned how the new EPA final Rule 111(d) "Clean Power Plan," released on Aug. 3, will affect the power plant, but the answer to that question will have to wait until states propose how they will meet the new federal regulations -- state plans on how they will achieve the carbon reductions the EPA is requiring are due in one year, but Arkansas and 14 other states have petitioned a federal court in Washington to push back that deadline.

The petition to postpone the Environmental Protection Agency's deadline was filed Thursday by attorneys general in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

According to Main, AEP SWEPCO is "continuing to review the 1,600-page rule and supporting technical documents (of the Clean Power Plan). The final rule is complex and was substantially revised throughout, compared to the draft rule. It requires extensive evaluation of the carbon emissions targets, state goals, compliance strategies and other critical details. The true impact of the Clean Power Plan on the cost of electricity and the ability to maintain a reliable power supply won't be clear until we have implementation plans that detail how the states propose to achieve the carbon dioxide reductions mandated by EPA. That process will take several years. AEP and SWEPCO will continue to participate in the federal and state processes as we work to protect customers and ensure reliability of the electric grid."

General News on 08/19/2015