Coal issue vetoed again

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 18, 2008 by Tim Carpenter

By Tim Carpenter

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

The timbre of the state's high-stakes coal dispute reverberated Thursday in the Statehouse when Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed another Holcomb power plant bill that didn't meet her definition of meaningful compromise.

Her duplicate strikes against the Legislature's plan to force state regulators to authorize a $3.6 billion expansion of the coal- fired electric plant near Holcomb owned by Sunflower Electric Power Corp. sets up a tumultuous showdown April 30 when lawmakers return to Topeka for concluding action in the 2008 session.

"We're not surprised," said Steve Miller, spokesman for Sunflower. "We will just not give up fighting."

Lee Boughey, spokesman for Sunflower partner Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association of Westminster, Colo., said the veto threatened to deny Kansans "benefit from increased tax base, good jobs and a reliable supply of affordable power."

The House and Senate twice passed legislation overturning the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's decision in October to withhold an air permit for the project.

KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby based the decision on concern about raising carbon dioxide emissions.

Passing coal bills in the Republican-controlled Legislature hasn't been the problem, given support for the 1,400-megawatt project from Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, and House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls.

The stumbling block has been the Democratic governor's veto pen.

The Senate found a two-thirds majority to override Sebelius' veto of the first coal bill, but the House has yet to corral a sufficient bipartisan block of votes to nullify the governor.

"We'll continue working to get to a 'yes,' " said Neufeld, who questioned the governor's sincerity in negotiating resolution to the policy stalemate.

Sebelius proposed a compromise that would have trimmed the Holcomb project to a single 700-megawatt unit if developers invested in wind power and conservation.

"I am still hopeful we can have meaningful discussions about a true compromise," the governor said.

She said the second coal bill, created as a safety net for pro- coal lawmakers if the first House veto override fails, "contains the same onerous elements of the previous bill."

Sending a near-duplicate coal bill to her desk, Sebelius said, "has done nothing to address the issues at hand - developing comprehensive energy policy, providing base-load energy power for western Kansas, implementing carbon mitigation strategies and capitalizing on our incredible assets for additional wind power."

Neufeld said both bills vetoed by the governor would provide a needed source of power to Kansans and require most utility companies to generate 10 percent of power from renewable sources by 2012.

Both bills also limited KDHE's power to evaluate permit applications based on carbon dioxide emissions.

Supporters of the Sunflower project charged KDHE injected regulatory uncertainty into the process by deciding for the first time to deny a permit based on emissions of CO2.

Sierra Club spokeswoman Stephanie Cole said the governor was wise to reject "a giveaway to the coal industry. She has proven to be a steadfast leader in responding to climate change."

Tim Carpenter can be reached

at (785) 296-3005

or timothy.carpenter

@cjonline.com.