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"This is an earth-shaking decision," said Steve Miller, spokesman for Sunflower Electric Cooperative, which is made up of smaller power cooperatives spread across central and western Kansas.
Hays-based Sunflower and other investors are planning to build three new coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas.
But Monday's court decision raises questions about the affordability of building new plants amid possible far-reaching regulatory changes.
The 5-4 decision was announced on the same day that the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in Topeka over Sunflower's pending permit to build its plants.
The federal high court's ruling came after a group of states sought U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulation of the auto industry's carbon emissions. But it's widely expected to have consequences for other industries that pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
"The ruling puts a huge amount of uncertainty in the marketplace," Miller said, noting that every coal-fired plant on the drawing board "just became a lot more uncertain."
"The financial community probably will be unwilling to loan money," he added, because building costs could grow with new emission controls.
Westar's environmental services director Bill Eastman had followed the case closely.
"It's something we've been watching as an industry for some time."
The ruling comes as the Democratic-run Congress is headed toward new regulation, he said. The company's concern is what effect that will have on keeping rates reasonable for customers.
New technology, some not developed yet, will be required to remove emissions and store them.
If the decision means the EPA moves toward regulating C02 emissions, "it'll take years to do that," Miller said.
He said to expect Congress to pass new laws to cap the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and plants. Along with that, emission sources likely will have to purchase or trade credits from other sources when they want to exceed the CO2 limit.
In the meantime, Americans' electricity consumption grows, Miller noted, while power plants are aging.
"The technology today is far better than what we used before."
But its cost is a concern in terms of future price volatility for utility customers.
Switching away from reliance on burning fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases, to produce electricity is likely to affect the reliability of the public power supply, Miller noted.
Gina Penzig, Westar spokeswoman, agreed.
"Wind turbines have improved, but you're still at the whim of Mother Nature."
Westar earlier this year said it would delay a decision on whether to build a new coal-fired power plant in Kansas.
"The reason we initially delayed it was construction costs. However, political discussion on CO2 was already taking place and that will be a factor in our decision to build," Penzig said. "A big factor in deciding what kind of generation to build is the cost. This (decision) does have the potential to make fossil fuel generation more expensive."
For now, Sunflower is continuing with plans for construction of a 2,100-megawatt complex of three new power plants in Finney County.
"We'll keep going as we are until things change," Miller said. "And they will change. I have no doubt of that."
In Kansas, EPA emissions permits are issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Kansas was among a handful of states that sided with the defense in the federal case.
"It's too early to see what impact the decision might have on the Sunflower permit and KDHE in general," said agency spokesman Joe Blubaugh.
"The ball's kind of in the EPA's court at this point. We'll see how they're going to move forward."
In addition, the Sierra Club is seeking its own remedy with a lawsuit in Shawnee County District Court asking for further deliberation by the state over Sunflower's pending permit to build new electric plants near Holcomb.
The club's attorney, Nicholas Persampieri with EarthJustice of Denver, says they want the court to order Kansas regulators to hold a formal, court-style hearing over Sunflower Electric's pending emissions permit.
Persampieri said the issues raised in Monday's Supreme Court ruling underline the importance of a thorough state review.
"I think the Supreme Court has made it clear that EPA and the states, including Kansas, should be controlling releases of carbon dioxide and so far the state has failed to do so," he said.
A KDHE spokesman said attorneys were not available late Monday for comment on the group's lawsuit.
The agency held three public hearings last fall over whether to issue the permits. The proceedings drew large crowds with some supporters cheering the plants' potential for economic development and others protesting the new generators' releases of mercury, carbon dioxide and the groundwater consumption.
Sunflower's Miller said officials had heard enough testimony.
"We've had plenty of hearings," he said. "We never are opposed to anybody's right to use the legal process. If they do require a hearing, we'll participate as necessary. But we're obviously interested in getting this done and on down the road."
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