The Garden City Telegram
Email this story | Add Your Comment
| Read (0) Comments
Officials: Compromise a 'win-win'
Published 5/13/2009 in Local News
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
Finney County Administrator Pete Olson has had an artist's rendering of what Sunflower Electric Power Corp.'s Holcomb site could look like with additional coal-fired plants ever since Sunflower first started talking about expansion.
He's displayed the image on his office wall so that if anyone asked about the plant expansion, he could explain the project.
Olson once again has something to talk about after Sunflower reached an agreement with the state earlier this month to construct one 895-megawatt coal-fired power plant instead of the originally proposed two 700-megawatt plants it had been seeking. In the compromise between Sunflower and Gov. Mark Parkinson, Sunflower also agreed to use new, cleaner technology in its coal-fired power plant to pursue other measures to offset potential carbon-dioxide emissions, which some scientists link to global warming. The utility also promised to develop wind energy.
Sunflower's project had been stalled at the legal and legislative levels since Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby denied the expansion's air quality permit based on possible plant emissions.
Olson said he feels the compromise is "a win-win" for Sunflower, the region and the state, explaining Kansas now has the potential to be a model for other states in developing cleaner-coal technology and ways to meet the growing energy demand.
"Overall, I think it's a good compromise," he said, adding it's good the project can move forward now, and preliminary planning by Sunflower, the county and city can be taken up once again.
Plans
Olson said Sunflower should use a lot of the county's existing road system and also use rail. The main thing for the county, he said, will be to coordinate with Sunflower and be aware of the project's timing. At this point, though, he said, it's still too early to have an idea of what the project's timeline is or how it will affect the county.
Sunflower spokeswoman Clare Gustin said that before any of the rest of the timeline is known for the project, Parkinson needs to sign the bill allowing Sunflower to move forward. The Kansas House and Senate passed the bill last week.
Then, Sunflower can resume the permitting process with KDHE, whose staff had recommended in 2007 that Sunflower be issued the permit and then Bremby went against that recommendation. "Getting that permit is key," Gustin said, explaining that once KDHE issues the permit, other plant details, such as financing and engineering, will start falling in to place.
Sunflower President and CEO Earl Watkins said construction of the power plant could begin within 18 months and take about four years. There's still no cost estimate for the project.
Sunflower expects the project could create more than 1,500 jobs during construction. The plant's total capacity would be enough to meet the peak demand of 448,000 households.
Why this agreement?
On Monday during the Finney County Commission meeting, County Commissioner Cliff Mayo said he'd heard nothing but positive about the compromise.
Commissioner Don Doll said he thought Sunflower compromised too quickly and that he believes the Kansas House would have had the majority of votes needed to override former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' veto of energy legislation before the compromise was reached.
"It was a gamble," Commissioner Roman Halbur told Doll, saying it's all speculation on whether there were enough votes to override the veto.
A two-thirds majority is necessary to override a veto, and the House already had failed three times to muster that number.
Gustin said the compromise of one smaller plant Sebelius posed to Sunflower while in office wasn't one Sunflower could make work. And a compromise is only successful if it works for both parties, Gustin said. Sebelius had proposed a smaller plant than the 895-megawatt plant Parkinson and Sunflower agreed upon.
"We'll never know," Gustin said of the veto override and having enough votes. "What if we hadn't?"
This way, she said, with the compromise, it's a win for both parties.
When the compromise was reached, Watkins stated "the current proposal has several advantages over the proposal offered last year by former Gov. Sebelius. This proposal accommodates the need to serve the out-of-state cooperative utilities, which is important for the economics of the project. The development fees earned by Sunflower from these out-of-state cooperatives will benefit Kansas ratepayers by providing capital for Sunflower's investment in the project. The ongoing operating fees will help offset rising costs and minimize future rate increases for Kansas customers."
Downtown
Kendall Kepley of Kep's Men's Wear, 112 Grant Ave., was working in¬ his business late Monday afternoon. Kepley sees Sunflower's compromise as something that will put money back into the economy.
While business hasn't been bad, it's been on the slower side for Kep's. Kepley said that regardless of whether the expansion project moved forward, "we're gonna make it out here no matter what."
But he's looking forward to businesses and the economy "hopping" again, adding he doesn't believed they have for several years because of the economy, the Con Agra fire that closed that plant down and eliminated about 2,300 jobs, and drought, among other factors.
Kepley remembers when the first Sunflower plant was built at Holcomb, and the restaurant once open across the street from his business would be packed at 5 a.m., then slow a bit and be packed again at lunch with movement from the plant construction.
Kepley said he hopes the recession will have moved on by the time the project starts.
Shonda Collins, owner of Wheatfields on Main, 309 N. Main St., also feels the economy will start picking up as dollars start turning over from construction with both Sunflower and the new high school.
Voters in November passed a $97.5 million bond issue, the largest component being construction of a new high school near Campus Drive and Mary Street. Construction is expected to start later this year.
Collins believes the county is on the edge of growth again, and it's a good time for anyone interested in getting into retail.
The rain hasn't hurt either, she said of agriculture.
"There's been interest here," Downtown Vision Director Beverly Schmitz Glass said of businesses starting or expanding in the county and downtown.
But she feels the Sunflower compromise may take that interest up a notch, getting entrepreneurs to think about how they can make it happen.
What do you think of the Sunflower plan? Vote in the poll on the home page.
Found 0 comment(s)!
Twitter Updates
