3rd unit would generate hundreds of Millard jobs

A proposed $1.75 billion coal-fired power unit at the Intermountain Power Project in Millard County will create hundreds of new jobs and generate a windfall in local and state tax revenues, according to a new study.

The report, commissioned by the Intermountain Power Agency and prepared by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said construction of a third 950-megawatt unit, capable of providing enough electricity for roughly 450,000 homes, will lead to more than 1,000 new construction jobs and 75 permanent jobs.

In addition, local purchases and wages are projected to reach $131 million annually. State and local tax revenues arising from the new unit will amount to $17.1 million annually, the report said.

The plant currently generates about 1,800 megawatts of electricity from two existing units. Nearly 75 percent of that power is reserved for California purchasers, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the cities of Anaheim, Riverside, Pasadena, Burbank and Glendale.

While 23 Utah cities already purchase power from IPP, another 17 Utah municipalities are interested in hedging their risks against a volatile open market, according to Reed Searle, general manager of the Intermountain Power Agency.

"The municipalities in Utah are driving this. Two years ago they all experienced shocking rate hikes on the market," Searle said. "There are 40-plus municipalities in Utah that provide electricity to their residents, and all 40 are currently expressing strong interest in this third unit."

In addition, cities in Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California have expressed interest in buying power from a new unit, Searle said. Only 10 percent to 15 percent of the new generation would end up in California.

Yet building a new coal-fired plant can be a long and controversial process.

Mark Clemens, coordinator of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, calls the new unit "ecologically ruinous."

"Reports have just come out that show that wind-generated electricity is actually cheaper than coal-fired generated capacity," Clemens said. "There is no excuse whatsoever for building any more coal-fired generating capacity. When you consider the downwind impacts of coal, you're getting nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and perhaps most damaging over the long run is just the extra carbon dioxide that we're already in the process choking ourselves with and causing global warming."