Alliant's dirty coal plant continues to hit snags

Ryan Schryver

All too often citizens and environmental groups enter too late in the game to affect the outcome of major public decisions. Often times, behind closed doors, high profile lobbyists and lawyers have laid the ground work for the approval of projects with decision makers. By the time these projects reach the public, environmental advocates are often steamrolled by the momentum already developed behind the scenes.

Thanks to the support of our members and foundation supporters, Clean Wisconsin's technical and legal experts have been able to work behind the scenes every step of the way to challenge and delay Alliant Energy's permit to build a new dirty coal plant in Cassville, Wisconsin.

Our success can be attributed in part to our ability to enter the game early on. Early in the process we found that the type of coal boiler chosen by Alliant has very high emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas approximately 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. To address this aspect of Alliant's plan, we set up a meeting with the DNR to review the new information and ensure that all global warming pollution from the new plant is fully accounted for in the development of the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the coal plant. The lack of information from Alliant about the high rates of global warming pollution from the proposed coal plant is one of the reasons the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) has twice declared the application incomplete.

The early involvement of Clean Wisconsin staff and volunteers in the proposed Alliant coal plant has also given us the tools to respond to the latest developments in the global fight against coal. In October 2007, state regulators in Kansas blocked the proposed Sunflower coal plant because of the carbon dioxide emissions this plant would contribute. Clean Wisconsin quickly pointed out that the coal plant proposed by Alliant for Cassville has an even higher global warming emission rate (pounds of pollution per unit of energy produced) than the Sunflower coal plant, making the power plant chosen by Alliant the worst of the worst. The blocked Sunflower coal plant is just the latest in a string of setbacks for the developers of coal power plants, with the majority of the coal projects announced in the past two years facing cancellations and delays, according to the Department of Energy.

Recently, Alliant claimed they are committed to burning biomass at the proposed Cassville coal plant to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Again, Clean Wisconsin was ready to point out that the construction application filed by Alliant does not include the equipment required to burn biomass and a ready supply of biomass has not been identified or quantified by Alliant. Moreover, even if the proposed Cassville coal plant did burn biomass at the highest rates possible (10 to 20% of the fuel, by weight) the resulting global warming emission rate would still be higher than other plants in Wisconsin burning 100% coal!

We are proud to say that the proposed plant is now over one year behind schedule while the costs of building new dirty coal plants and the likelihood of new global warming regulations have both increased. We will need your help as we continue to work to stop dirty coal plants in Wisconsin. Please visit www.CleanWisconsin.org to find out how you can help us slam the door on more dirty coal in Wisconsin.