Sevier residents can vote on coal plants

The majority vote Tuesday in favor of Proposition 1 in Sevier County means residents there will get to vote on whether coal-fired power plants should be built in their backyard. Tuesday's vote was 4,567 for Prop. 1 and 3,239 against.

Proposition 1 calls for an amendment to the county's zoning ordinance in order to let people vote on proposals to build power plants that use coal as their main source of fuel. The Utah Supreme Court last month ordered the initiative back on the ballot after a lower court decided that the citizen group Right to Vote Committee did not have the legal right to put the measure on the ballot.

The initiative currently targets an ongoing proposal by Sevier Power Co. to build a 270-megawatt coal-fired power plant near Sigurd. The company has already received its air-quality permit from the state, but opponents have held up the project in a number of other areas, including where to dump waste from the plant. Now it's expected residents will vote in a special election, possibly bringing an end to the company's proposal if a majority votes against the plant.

— Stephen Speckman