Power plant saga takes new turn

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 25, 2007 | by Matt O'Brien

HAYWARD -- With overriding concerns presented by their own staff, two presiding board members of the California Energy Commission said a proposed gas-burning Hayward power plant ought to go forward after all.

The Friday decision by state commissioners John Geesman and Jeffrey Byron is just the latest chapter in a months-long approval process for the 600-megawatt Russell City Energy Center. It is also a sign that San Jose-based Calpine Corp.'s project is neither a dead deal nor a done deal.

In a 229-page report, the commissioners differed in opinion with state commission staff who warned earlier this year that columns of warm exhaust from the west Hayward plant could interfere with aircraft approaching the nearby Hayward Executive Airport.

"The commission has decided that those concerns do not merit denial of the petition and can be mitigated, as recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration, with appropriate notifications to pilots," the Friday report stated.

The commissioners also dismissed concerns raised by some Hayward residents about pollution impacts on health, saying "the evidence shows that there will not be significant health impacts and that the project will comply with all health-related requirements."

The decision overrides a July report from staff scientists of the California Energy Commission that recommended against construction of the Russell City plant, mostly because of aviation concerns.

But it is not the final decision. Geesman and Byron haveserved as the commission's licensing committee presiding over the Hayward project, but a final vote of approval or denial must be made by all five state energy commissioners at a hearing scheduled for Sept. 12 in Sacramento.

Before that, the commissioners will host a conference at 6 p.m. Sept. 5 at Hayward City Hall to discuss their findings.

The Friday report states that the plant, whose stacks would rise about 12 stories, would be built 1.5 miles southwest of the airport, and that aircraft would not need to fly over the plant.

Federal aviation officials can issue warnings to pilots and revise instrument approaches, while Calpine can install air traffic hazard lighting on the plant, the commissioners said.

Geesman and Byron are also presiding over the approval process for another proposed Hayward power plant, Eastshore Energy Center. Proposed by Tierra Energy, a small company now based in Colorado, the 115-megawatt plant would be about a half mile from the other plant.

Commission staff members last week issued a report on Eastshore that drew similar conclusions as the report they issued on Russell City. The staffers said they could not recommend Eastshore because of its proximity to the airport.

Geesman and Byron must now decide whether they will support or override that Eastshore recommendation. The Eastshore center's location is closer to the runway approach line.