Other than renewable energy such as wind power, he said, main power sources include nuclear plants, which nobody wants; hydroelectric generation, not practical in the nation's second-driest state; and coal. For Utah, "unless you want your electricity to run only when the wind blows," coal is the solution, he said.

"We have the largest coal reserves in the western United States," Taylor added. Also, western coal is low-sulfur and high-energy, making it better to burn that eastern coal, he said.

The Sigurd plant would use modern equipment, including a fluidized bed boiler, which is more efficient, he said. "We are projecting this plant to be . . . the cleanest coal-fired plant in the United States," Taylor said.

Reed Searle, general manager of the Intermountain Power Agency, which runs the IPP plants, said coal-fired power plants do generate emissions. "But our pollution control equipment is pretty marvelous," he said.

"It removes 99.8 percent of all particles from the air emissions. We will have probably the first of what's called catalytic reduction technology in the West.

"That's costing about $80 million, and it will remove about 80 to 85 percent of the nitrogen oxide from the air."

It also will have the most modern sulfur-dioxide removal equipment, Searle said.

"Together, the emission control equipment is about 30-plus percent of the total plant's construction cost."

Altogether, the unit should cost about $1.7 billion. Construction is expected to continue from 2006 to 2010.

Utilities participating in IPP use nonpolluting sources of energy like wind and solar generation. They need resources like coal-fired plants when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing, he said.

"They have to have a backup," Searle said. That makes it possible for the utilities to use renewable resources.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com