East Kentucky Power Announces Settlement Includes Steps to Further Reduce Plant Emissions
07/03/2007
East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC), a generation and treansmission cooperative serving 16 distribution cooperatives in eastern Kentucky, has reached a settlement with the federal government to resolve a lawsuit that alleged New Source Review violations of the Clean Air Act.
The settlement is the result of nearly three years of negotiations between the not-for-profit cooperative based in Winchester the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We have worked diligently to bring about a settlement that allows our cooperative to continue to meet our members’ future power needs while bolstering our commitment to the environment,” said Bob Marshall, EKPC’s president and CEO. “This settlement fits well with East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s existing plans for complying with tougher environmental standards that go into effect in the next few years. It also removes the risks and high costs of this litigation so our cooperative can focus on serving our members.”
The settlement calls for EKPC to pay a $750,000 civil penalty. The cooperative maintains it has been and remains in compliance with the Clean Air Act.
“We know our members are sensitive to cost impacts, so East Kentucky Power Cooperative is taking aggressive steps to cut costs,” Marshall said. “As we implement the terms of this settlement, EKPC will
strive to delay and minimize the impact on our member-owners’ bills.”
As part of the settlement, EKPC pledges to construct projects to further reduce emissions from its power plants at an estimated cost of $656 million over the next five to seven years.
The terms of the settlement include:
• The installation and year-round operation of flue-gas desulfurization equipment, or “scrubbers,” and associated equipment to two generating units to meet tougher standards of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR)
• Annual caps on emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx)
• Year-round operation of equipment to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide
• Continuous emissions monitoring for mercury and particulate matter
• Strict limits on the purchase, sale or transfer of emissions allowances
• By the end of 2009, EKPC must choose either to install emissions-control equipment on the cooperative’s Cooper #2 generating unit, or to retire or re-power its Dale #3 and Dale #4 units
For more information, contact Nick Comer at EKPC: 859.745.9450
Kentucky Association of
Electric Cooperatives, Inc.
4515 Bishop Lane * Louisville, KY 40218
502-451-2430 * FAX: 502-459-3209 Terms of Use
