Alliant Energy Corp's Interstate Power and Light Co on Thursday said it canceled plans to construct the proposed 649-megawatt Sutherland 4 coal-fired power plant in Iowa. The Madison, Wisconsin-based company said in a release it canceled the project based on several factors including the current economic and financial climate, increasing uncertainty regarding regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and the terms placed on the plant by regulators.
"When combined with ... Wisconsin's denial of the proposed expansion of ... Nelson Dewey last December, the decision not to move forward with Sutherland 4 removes the option of adding new coal-based capacity to meet future energy needs," said Bill Harvey, Chairman, President, and CEO of Alliant.
The company planned to start construction of the estimated $1.8 billion Sutherland 4 in the first quarter of 2009 with commercial operation seen in 2013.
Power producers have canceled more than 90 coal-fired projects totaling more than 55,000 MW of capacity for various reasons, over the past few years, according to data from the Sierra Club. There are still about 70 coal plants under construction or in development in the United States.
The company believed Sutherland 4 was the most cost effective option to meet growing customer demand and help the environment, a spokesman for Alliant said.
To meet the need for base load power, the company would now likely have to turn to natural gas, the spokesman said noting gas is more expensive and volatile than coal.
Sutherland 4 would have allowed Alliant to reduce its environmental impact by retiring and/or reducing the usage of older plants, the spokesman said.
It also would have allowed Alliant to reduce power purchases from other generating companies. The company currently buys about a third of the power it delivers, which helps keep customer costs higher than some neighboring states with whom it competes for industrial customers.
"When combined with ... Wisconsin's denial of the proposed expansion of ... Nelson Dewey last December, the decision not to move forward with Sutherland 4 removes the option of adding new coal-based capacity to meet future energy needs," said Bill Harvey, Chairman, President, and CEO of Alliant.
The company planned to start construction of the estimated $1.8 billion Sutherland 4 in the first quarter of 2009 with commercial operation seen in 2013.
Power producers have canceled more than 90 coal-fired projects totaling more than 55,000 MW of capacity for various reasons, over the past few years, according to data from the Sierra Club. There are still about 70 coal plants under construction or in development in the United States.
The company believed Sutherland 4 was the most cost effective option to meet growing customer demand and help the environment, a spokesman for Alliant said.
To meet the need for base load power, the company would now likely have to turn to natural gas, the spokesman said noting gas is more expensive and volatile than coal.
Sutherland 4 would have allowed Alliant to reduce its environmental impact by retiring and/or reducing the usage of older plants, the spokesman said.
It also would have allowed Alliant to reduce power purchases from other generating companies. The company currently buys about a third of the power it delivers, which helps keep customer costs higher than some neighboring states with whom it competes for industrial customers.
So, Wisconsin is running out of power, and Alliant wants to build a new coal plant to fill that need. The United States is, of course, the 'Saudi Arabia of coal', meaning we have coal running out of our ears and can utilize it to power our nation for decades -- if not centuries -- to come. But, with the federal government taking aim at energy production (remember, Obama pledged to bankrupt the coal industry) and looking to implement a crippling cap-and-trade system that will drive supply down and prices up, it just isn't going to happen.
Thank you, President Obama. Tell us, if you please...is this an example of your policies creating jobs, or saving them? Because I can't tell. Seems to me this is actually preventing them from being created, but what do I know?
Unfortunately, we should expect to see a whole lot more of this happening in the coming months.
There's my two cents.
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