State Oks Proposed Creston Power Plant But Plunging Energy Prices Put Project On Hold For Now

(From For the Record of Saturday, October 21, 1995): A draft permit for the proposed power plant at Creston applies only to its air emissions, not the project as a whole, as implied in Friday’s Spokesman-Review.

Washington authorities have tentatively approved construction of a massive natural gas-fired generating plant at Creston.

But developers of the $650 million project said ground-breaking is unlikely anytime soon because its financial feasibility has been undermined by plunging energy prices.

The Northwest Regional Power Facility was proposed almost two years ago by Bellevue-based KVA Resources Inc. and CSW Energy Inc., a Dallas-based company.

The project’s four turbines would generate 838 megawatts of electricity - more than Spokane consumes - for distribution throughout the West over adjacent Bonneville Power Administration transmission lines.

Natural gas would be piped to the facility from Spokane, but the permit approved by the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council last month does not cover the necessary 55 miles right of way.

A public hearing on the notice of construction and prevention of significant deterioration will be held Tuesday in the Creston School at 7 p.m.

A second hearing on the draft environmental impact statement is scheduled for November 15 at the same time and place.

At previous hearings, questions were raised about the need for electricity from the project, the amount of water required for cooling, and air pollution.

In response, said project Manager Steve Anderson, KVA and CSW made about $35 million in modifications to the design.

Instead of using 4,000 gallons per minute of water to cool the plant’s condensers, for example, an air-to-air system will be installed that sucks up only 70 gallons per minute, Stevenson said.

“It’s a big radiator, essentially,” he said. “There were so many issues related to water we just decided to go that route.”

Also, despite company reluctance, carbon monoxide scrubbers will be added to reduce emissions of that toxic gas by about 80 percent.

However, prepared testimony from Washington State University Associate Professor Malcolm Campbell said Spokane’s efforts to avoid air pollution limits could be compromised by the remaining carbon monoxide.

He also recommended a catalyst for nitrogen oxides, a source of ozone that can damage plant and animal life.

The preliminary permit does not require the additional scrubber because, according to a fact sheet that accompanies the permit, the technology would increase costs and add to ammonia emissions.

What potential there is for damage from nitrogen oxides lies on the Spokane Indian Reservation, which is classified a Class 1 airshed under the federal Clean Air Act.

Christopher Gray, the tribe’s attorney, said members have not decided how to respond to the state’s findings.

In other testimony, Jeffrey King, a resource analyst with the Northwest Power Planning Council, says surplus power from existing or already permitted plants in the West can meet Washington’s needs for the next five to 10 years.

Anderson said the project’s developers recognize an abundance of energy has driven prices below the cost of production at Creston.

But, he added, “We still think we’re the cheapest new resource available.”

Anderson said the developers will ask the state to extend the proposed deadline for the start of construction from 18 months after the date the permit receives final approval to at least three years.

Washington Water Power Co., which planned a coal-fired plant on the same site in the early 1980s, received a five-year permit, he noted.

, DataTimes