Dominon power plant hearing set for this morning

Supporters and opponents of Dominion Virginia Power’s proposed $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant in St. Paul will testify this morning at an evidentiary hearing before the State Corporation Commission in Richmond.

The hearing comes one day after Dominion announced plans to ask the SCC for permission to convert another coal-fired plant in Virginia to natural gas if approval is granted to move forward with the St. Paul facility.

“Dominion gets to present its case and critics get to make their case,” Dan Genest, spokesman for Dominion, said of today’s hearing.

Called so the SCC can consider whether to grant a construction permit for the plant, the hearing is expected to involve lengthy technical issues and could take most of the week.

Dominion and supporters of the plant say the clean-coal technology, even though not now available, would help the facility reduce emission pollution that normally occurs when coal is burned. The technology slated for the plant involves capturing the carbon emissions and storing it in the ground rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.

The facility would also be designed to use less water than traditional coal-fired plants, the company says.

Local and regional leaders who support the plant say it will create about 300 coal-mining jobs since the plant must burn Virginia coal. The facility also would become one of Wise County’s biggest sources of tax revenue. The local payroll is expected to be hefty as the proposed plant is constructed, but the plant would only require about 75 full-time workers if it goes online in a few years.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, representing a coalition that opposes the plant, said in a news release issued Monday that it plans to present evidence that Dominion did not account for high construction costs or for the carbon-dioxide controls. Both would increase the cost Dominion would charge customers of the proposed 585-megawatt power plant, the law center said in the release.

“Dominion’s price estimates keep climbing, and it’s looking for Virginia ratepayers to foot the bill,” Cale Jaffe, the center’s attorney, said in the news release. “This is a bad deal for people in Wise County and for all Virginians, regardless of the company’s plans for any of its other plants.”

The center also took a swipe Monday at Dominion’s announcement that it wants to change its Bremo plant in Fluvanna County to a gas-fueled facility in an effort to reduce emissions.

Genest, the Dominion spokesman, explained that the conversion plan would only happen if Dominion gets approval to build and operate the St. Paul plant. The Fluvanna plant is a base load plant, which means it operates all the time to supply electricity to customers. If the plant is converted, it would become a peak plant, which means it would only be used during peak periods when electricity use is high.

Jaffe said Dominion’s plan is designed “to divert attention away from the boondoggle the company has proposed for Wise County.”

Genest said Dominion has been looking at making the switch at the Fluvanna plant for a while, since a new gas line close to the plant provides an opportunity for the company to use natural gas to fuel the facility.

Making the switch would reduce overall emissions in Virginia, he said. Dominion officials say the proposal would create large net reductions in sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions if the St. Paul facility is in operation while the plant in Fluvanna is converted to a peak plant that burns natural gas.

Genest said the Fluvanna plant emitted 154 pounds of mercury in 2006, but the figure would drop to virtually zero if the plant burns gas. In addition, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and other particulates from the Bremo plant would be reduced, Genest said.

He added that the company will not ask the SCC for permission to convert the plant until a decision is made on the St. Paul facility.

kstill@bristolnews.com | (276) 679-1338