Power plant proposal faces concerns (coal gasification plant, IN) [View All]

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http://www.reporter-times.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=70558&format=html

Duke Energy clients, some 9,500 of whom reside in Morgan County, are the intended beneficiaries of a gasified coal plant project being proposed for Edwardsport. But some consumer and environmental advocacy groups have raised questions about the cleanliness of "clean coal," and the costs they say the general public will have to shoulder.

Opponents of the plant, referred to as intervenors, will file testimony with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission next week, which will be followed by a rebuttal from Duke Energy/Vectren Energy. The issue will be the subject of a hearing held in June.

Energy groups have pointed to coal gasification (also known as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) as a new way to work with coal without producing many of the harmful emissions. Other groups, including the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, say gasified coal is not the cleanest way to produce electricity.

Kerwin Olson, a spokesman for advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, said the group's No. 1 reason for opposing the plant proposal is the economic impact on ratepayers. The estimated cost of the plant has risen over the past year from $1 billion to somewhere between $2.1 and $2.4 billion, Olson said. That cost will be absorbed by taxpayers, municipalities, schools and most other public entities that consume Duke's product, he said, so it's more than just an issue about the area surrounding the proposed Edwardsport site.

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