The Strings Attached to PGE's 2020 Plan
The Strings Attached to PGE's 2020 Plan
Why 10 years is too long to wait for clean air
Background:
Portland General Electric (PGE) operates Oregon's only coal plant located in Boardman, Oregon. The Boardman Coal Plant emits 5 million tons of carbon dioxide, over 15,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide and over 200 pounds of mercury every single year making it Oregon's largest stationary source global warming pollution.
PGE, which began operating the plant in 1980, has recently announced a plan to close down the plant by 2020. However, the 2020 plan comes with significant strings attached. PGE wants to forego putting on modern day pollution controls, required by law, for another 10 years. PGE currently operates the Boardman plant under emission limitations from 1971 - with no updates or decreases in pollution despite new regulatory programs and significant investments that increased pollution at the plant.
Portland General Electric is seeking to avoid putting on pollution controls required by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency. Oregonians have been entitled to significant emission reductions from Boardman for three decades, and we can't afford to wait another decade for PGE to comply with the law, our health and environment depend on it.
We can move beyond Boardman much sooner than 2020, PGE's own research has shown that we can safely and affordably transition off Boardman by 2014. An early closure would ensure the protection of our health and our environment, protect our children's future and give us the clean air we have deserved for decades.
PGE's 2020 plan:
PGE has recently announced a plan to close down the plant by 2020. However, Portland General Electric's 2020 plan comes with significant strings attached. PGE wants to forego putting on modern day pollution controls for another 10 years. PGE currently operates the Boardman plant under emission limitations from 1971 - with no updates or decreases in pollution despite new regulatory programs and significant investments that increased pollution at the plant. Oregonians have been entitled to significant emission reductions from Boardman for three decades, and we can't afford to wait another decade for PGE to comply with the law.
Furthermore, we have serious cause to believe that PGE will not get past all the regulatory hurdles to keep the plant open until 2020. First, PGE needs to get the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to allow them to forgo putting on most of the pollution controls required by law. Second, the EPA is making it harder and harder to burn coal. Next year they are coming out with new pollution control standards for coal plants. These rules state that by 2015 the Boardman coal plant will have to undergo significant investments in pollution controls. They might get a year extension, but that is about it. 2020 is not in the cards for Boardman. But PGE is already in DC trying to figure out a way around these rules, not only for themselves but for hundreds of coal plants across the county. If PGE was really serious about shutting down Boardman they would be seriously looking at dates between 2014 and 2016.
Colorado is now shutting down coal plants. "Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act" was recently approved by the Colorado State House and will likely be signed by Governor Ritter later this month. This bill will reduce pollutants by retiring, retrofitting or repowering coal-fired power plants on Colorado's Front Range by 2017. The plants will be replaced with facilities fueled by natural gas or other energy sources that do not emit the same levels of hazardous pollution as coal plants.
What is happening in Colorado is a great example of a state seizing opportunities to create jobs while simultaneously taking strides to combat climate change. This is particularly interesting when compared to what is happening in Oregon, where the operator of the only coal-fired power plant within our state is stubbornly demanding to be allowed to pollute for an additional decade.
PGE is still seeking approval of the 2040 plan
PGE knows that its 2020 plan is not likely. See PGE needs to start ordering the pollution controls in the first quarter of 2011, if they are to comply with DEQ regulations. And at a recent public meeting PGE held, they said that they would not likely have the assurances they needed from the Federal Government by the first quarter of 2011, but that they were holding out hope. Since that is a very risky proposition, PGE is seeking approval this year from the PUC for its 2040 plan. PGE is asking that the Sierra Club and our partner groups help them to get out of state and federal regulations, drop our lawsuit and our public opposition while they continue seek approval for a 2040 backup plan. That is a laughable proposition.
Rates
PGE wants to use big scary numbers to keep us from taking action quickly to transition off the dirty Boardman coal plant. In a recent letter to the editor published in the Oregonian by PGE the company claims that it would cost $600 million more to shut down the plant in 2014 as compared to 2020. What the company doesn't tell you is that they are not looking at the long term costs and they are not using Net Present Value $.
When looked at the longer timeline and the true cost of the money it only costs $200 million to shut down the plant early. That is $200 million in a plan that costs $30 Billion.
This is a small price to pay to address the imminent threat of climate change, to protect the health of thousands of Oregonians and to transition Oregon into a clean energy future.
Remember for PGE's back-up plan, to install pollution controls and keep running the plant, it will cost $600 million and ratepayer would not get the same benefits as shutting down. So why is 2040 PGE's back up plan and not 2014?
Reliability
PGE will say 2014 is not reliable. This is because PGE says it can't get a gas plant online by 2014. However the average time to build a gas plant is 2-3 years, it takes at most 5 years to get a new gas plant online. So we asked PGE to look at shutting down in 2015 or 2016, which would allow them to comply with the new EPA standards too, but they refused. Also, PGE has never looked at any other options to replace Boardman besides building a new natural gas plant. PGE has a range of option available to them including entering into a mid-term power purchase agreement to bridge us through until we can get new power sources online.
PGE is smart and talented. If they would spend the time planning to get off Boardman that they are spending trying to skirt the law they could come up with a strategy that would work. However, PGE is more interested in protecting the old way of doing business than to do what is right for Oregon.
Our Health:
Boardman is the largest point source of Mercury in Oregon and annually emits enough mercury (221 lbs.) to contaminate 2.6 million acres of water, or four times the surface area of all Oregon lakes. Researchers have estimated that between 317,000 and 631,000 children are born in the U.S. each year with blood mercury levels high enough to impair performance on neurodevelopment tests and cause lifelong loss of intelligence. Though PGE plans to cut back its mercury emissions by 90% it will still qualify as a major source of mercury and subject to the new EPA standards.
Boardman emits over 50 tons of Hydrogen Fluoride every year, which affects the nose, throat, and eyes, and cause narrowing and swelling of the throat, causing upper airway obstruction. Accumulation of fluid in the lungs, constriction of the bronchi, and partial or complete lung collapse can occur. Children may be more vulnerable to corrosive agents than adults because of the relatively smaller diameter of their airways. Long-term hydrogen fluoride exposure has been reported to damage the kidneys and liver. Chronic exposure may be more serious for children because of their potential longer latency period.
The plant also emits nearly 30 tons of Hydrochloric Acid every year, which is corrosive to the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes. Acute inhalation exposure may cause coughing, hoarseness, inflammation and ulceration of the respiratory tract, chest pain, and pulmonary edema in humans. Pulmonary irritation, lesions of the upper respiratory tract, and laryngeal and pulmonary edema have been reported in rodents acutely exposed by inhalation.
Our Environment:
The Boardman coal plant is the largest stationary source of haze-causing Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide in Oregon. Regional Haze from the Boardman Coal pollutes more than 10 of Oregon's federally protected National Parks, Wilderness Areas, and Scenic Areas, including the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood.
These pollutants are erasing the petroglyphs in the Columbia Gorge, which is home to the most famous petroglyph in all of North America, She Who Watches. These pollutants are also negatively impacting the ecosystem in the Gorge. The Gorge is home to 16 species that are found no where else on the planet. We are already beginning to see effects from acid deposition on lichen, which is an indicator species for the area, meaning that the ecosystem is under serious threat from the Boardman Coal Plant. If we wait another 10 years to clean up the pollution at Boardman the impacts to our wild areas could be destructive and permanent.
The Boardman Coal Plant is the largest source of global warming pollution in the state, emitting 5 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.
Oregon's Clean Energy Future
The Northwest Beyond Coal Campaign
Beyond Coal Campaign
We know that if we have any hope of solving global warming and building healthier, more sustainable communities, we must move away from using coal. The Beyond Coal Campaign is the Sierra Club's bold grassroots effort to protect the environment and communities from destructive coal mining, to prevent new coal fired power plants from being built, and to shut down existing power plants in favor of more sustainable, renewable energy sources. In Oregon, the Beyond Coal Campaign will work toward solving global warming by shutting down the largest stationary source of global warming pollution in Oregon - the Boardman Coal Plant, and phasing out the state's dependence on out of state coal plants.
The Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign is working hard to:
1. Stop the construction of dirty, new coal plants by educating investors and decision makers about the economic and environmental risks of investing in new coal.
2. Retire old plants that are the worst contributors to health-harming soot and smog pollution and replace them with clean energy solutions.
3. Work with communities to protect our mountains, lands and waters by keeping our vast coal reserves in the ground.
Get involved!
Oregon's clean energy future can only happen if we act within our communities to kick Oregon's addiction to coal. By working with motivated citizens to pressure decision-makers and government agencies at all levels, we will succeed in establishing clean, efficient energy sources to power Oregon.
For More Information: Robin Everett at robin.everett@sierraclub.org or call (503) 238-0442 x307 or Cesia Kearns at cesia.kearns@sierraclub.org or call (503) 238-0442 x303.