Supporters, opponents preparing for hearing on Southwest Indiana proposal

Supporters and opponents of Duke Energy's plans to build a new coal gasification power plant in Knox County are preparing for a public hearing this evening in Bloomington before the state's utility regulators.

Duke estimates the plant would cost around $2 billion to build and would increase electric bills for the company's customers by as much as 16 percent over the next several five years, company officials said.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has yet to approve the project, and Wednesday's hearing is a chance for the public to voice support or opposition to the project.

"Rate payers will be paying much more for this plant than they need to," said Dave Menzer, utility campaign organizer for the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana. Menzer's group, which estimates the plant will really cost nearly $3 billion, is urging Hoosiers to tell the IURC to reject Duke's application.

Coal gasification plants radically reduce some power plant pollutants, including sulfur, nitric oxide and mercury, said John Thompson, director of coal transition with the Clean Air Task Force in Carbondale, Ill. And even though the proposed Duke plant would be far larger then the existing power plant in Edwardsport, the new plant would represent "real progress" in emissions reductions, he said.

Duke expects to make a decision on whether to proceed with this plant before the end of this year, company officials said. However, the project cannot break ground before state and federal regulators grant their approval.

Menzer and other opponents of the Edwardsport plant project, including the Sierra Club, would prefer Duke invest in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. They also believe energy conservation should be a higher priority.

"Let's go with what works now," Menzer said. He also argues that plans to use the plant to study the feasibility of capturing carbon dioxide emissions and then storing the green house gas underground are misguided.

Duke Energy is "asking Indiana rate payers to pick up the tab for what amounts to a science project," Menzer said.

Duke decided to ask Indiana regulators to allow the company to test carbon capture and storage at the proposed plant after environmental groups, such as the Indiana Wildlife Federation and the Clean Air Task Force got involved, said Angeline Protegere, a spokeswoman for Duke.

The possibility of capturing carbon dioxide at the plant and then pumping it underground instead of allowing it into the atmosphere is something that gives the Knox County project "global significance," Thompson said.

But not everyone is convinced using the Edwardsport plant to experiment on this new technology is a good idea. Menzer believes federal officials should continue to experiment with carbon emissions capturing, but does not want Indiana rate payers to foot the bill. "It's really quite a gamble," Menzer said.

Other groups, however, favor the plans.

"We see this as a quantum leap in electric power generation," said John Goss, executive director of the Indiana Wildlife Federation. Coal gasification plants are "at least 10 times better at removing air pollution," he said. He also believes the proposed plant would emit about 90 percent less mercury than the existing Edwardsport plant, which was built in the 1950s.

The proposed plant also would be welcome since it would open the door to study further large-scale capturing of carbon emissions, Goss said.

"We see it as a very important step," he said.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.