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Officials: Sunflower ruling a roadblock
Published 2/3/2012 in Local News
By SHAJIA AHMAD
sahmad@gctelegram.com
Some locals say another legal ruling blocking efforts to build a new coal-fired electric generation plant is unwelcome at best.
"It's disappointing for Sunflower (Electric Power Corp.) certainly, but also for people who want to keep the rates of electricity down. They've been climbing, and they're just going to get higher," said Garden City Mayor John Doll in response to the news out of Washington. "We just have to be patient, and hope for a good decision from the (Kansas) Supreme Court. (Sunflower) has jumped over so many hurdles already."
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan has ruled that an environmental impact study must be completed before construction of Sunflower Electric Power Corp.'s 895-megawatt coal-fired power plant can begin.
The ruling requires the Rural Utilities Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to complete the environmental study before granting any approvals to the Hays-based electric generation and transmission utility for its proposed $2.8 billion plant, to be built adjacent to its existing plant outside Holcomb, according to the AP.
Sullivan's ruling is part of a lawsuit against RUS and Sunflower filed by the Sierra Club in October 2007 and separate from a lawsuit filed by the environmental group against the Kansas Department of Health and Environment asking the state supreme court to reject an already granted permit. The case should be heard by the Kansas Supreme Court sometime in 2012, according to the state attorney general's office.
Cindy Hertel, spokeswoman for Sunflower, said the regional wholesale power supplier still is reviewing the legal decision and has no further statement to make at this time.
Holcomb Mayor Gary Newman called the latest ruling a "bump in the road" and said that he is confident Sunflower will move forward with the project.
"The financial impacts to these delays are only hurting the entire state, even surrounding states," the Holcomb mayor said. "Locally, we have already lost an opportunity to build a bio-energy plant that would have utilized the emissions those against the expansion would have created, cost each and every taxpayer an opportunity to increase revenues into the state and lowering the impact to their personal taxes. In a time where unemployment is still high, we are passing on job opportunities and opportunities for local business owners to find success, all being stopped by deep pocketed lobbyists who don't even live in the area refusing to really consider all the facts. I am glad that the (Kansas) Supreme Court will be hearing the final case, keeping this matter at the state level where it belongs."
In a statement released Thursday, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., echoed similar sentiments. The congressman said the ruling is a loss for Kansas consumers.
"It is ridiculous that this process requires yet another review. It is the classic 'death-by-litigation strategy' that only creates more red tape and unnecessary requirements. A private business is trying to invest private money into a venture that will create public good, yet activists — with the blessing of the Obama administration — stand in the way," Huelskamp said. "America has 22 million Americans unemployed or underemployed and energy projects would put a considerable dent in those figures. Yet, roadblock after roadblock continues to be put in the way of projects like Sunflower's Holcomb expansion or the Keystone XL Pipeline. Solutions like these will help get Americans back to work, enhance our domestic energy supply, and stabilize energy prices."
Officials have said construction of Sunflower's expansion project will lead to nearly $2 billion in economic activity and will create nearly 2,000 jobs at peak-build out, which amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in labor income and total income.
A separate challenge of the Sunflower project is pending before the Kansas Supreme Court, as well, the AP reported.
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