County planners oppose power plants

Tuesday, March 19, 2002 | 11:23 a.m.

Clark County planners, citing air quality, water and noise issues, are asking commissioners to deny zoning requests to build two new power plants, one in the northern, the other in the southern part of the county.

The drive to establish new power plants received a boost last year, when blackouts hit parts of California. About two dozen new power plants have been proposed for Nevada, with 11 gas-fired plants planned for Clark County.

The federal Bureau of Land Management, as part of Wednesday's Clark County Commission zoning agenda, has asked the county for the zoning approvals for companies to build the plants.

Combined, the two plants would provide about 1,700 megawatts -- enough power for about 850,000 people during hot summer months when air conditioners are running. The Nevada Public Utilities Commission has estimated that various power companies are seeking local, state and federal permits for plants to generate more than 10,000 megawatts, far more than could be used in Nevada.

Most of the power would go on the Western power grid for sale to the highest bidder.

Clark County staff cited similar reasons for recommending denial of the zoning for both plants, one near the Lincoln County line and one near Goodsprings.

One common thread was the effect the plants would have on air quality, county planner Chuck Pulsifer said.

A staff analysis of the proposed Meadow Valley Generating Station in the northern part of the county suggested that the air pollution from the new plant would combine with emissions from a nearby existing power plant, the Reid Gardner Power Plant, to affect a nearby residential community. Noise also would be a problem, it said.

Ann Schreiber, an area resident, said government agencies have been too willing to accept power plants in rural areas, even when people lived near the plants.

Other federally managed land nearby could be used to move the Meadow Valley plant away from her residential community, she said.

"They won't even consider that," she said. "At least keep them away from the residents."

Schreiber said the plant's design, which uses water to cool the generating equipment, is inefficient and shouldn't get local approval.

But former governor and senator Richard Bryan, representing the BLM and would-be plant owner PG&E National Energy Group, said the environmental and residential concerns can be overcome.

He noted that the advisory Clark County Planning Commission, Moapa Valley Water District and Southern Nevada Water Authority also have approved the proposed plant.

The plant's builders have helped their case by offering some power to local users and by paying for more than $30 million in water-system infrastructure to the Moapa Valley Water District, which would supply the 7,000 acre-feet of water per year needed by the plant.

Local agencies are guaranteed first rights to buy up to 25 percent of the power from the Meadow Valley plant, Bryan said.

PG&E National Energy Group is now preparing an environmental impact assessment that should address some of the issues cited by staff, residents and environmentalists, he said.

A similar coalition is opposing another power plant, the Ivanpah Generating Station, to be built in the south part of Clark County.

The planning staff warned that the project's air pollution emissions could hinder the planned Ivanpah Valley airport a few miles away. Federal air-quality regulations would limit the amount of pollution that the could go into the air over the area.

But Diamond Generating's Bill Davis, a company spokesman, said modeling shows that there is enough room in the "air shed" for both the airport and the power plant.

Lucinda Parker, permitting specialist for the Clark County Air Quality Management Department, agreed. But she said approval of the power plant could force the future airport to use more expensive and extensive air-pollution controls than now planned.

"We are monitoring it very closely," Parker said.

The company is preparing an environmental assessment that will respond to concerns raised by county staff, residents from Goodsprings and environmentalists, Davis said.

"Their concerns will be incorporated and mitigated," Davis said.

County commission action on the Ivanpah Energy Center could be delayed. Davis said his company has asked to pull the power plant from Wednesday's agenda. It could be heard again in two weeks.

Environmentalists and residents from Goodsprings and the Meadow Valley area have promised to attend and oppose the new plants.

Jane Feldman, an activist for the local arm of the Sierra Club, said she fears that the move to build power plants in Nevada is trading power for local water and air quality.

"There are at least a dozen in the permitting process in Southern Nevada," she said. "It sounds like a heck of a lot."