Springerville Generating Station
{{#badges: CoalSwarm}} Springerville Generating Station is a 1,765.8-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station near Springerville, Arizona.
Contents
Location
Plant Data
- Owner: Unit 1 and 2: Tucson Electric Power Company, Unit 3: Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Unit 4: Salt River Project[1]
- Parent Company: Unit 1 & 2: Fortis, Unit 3: Tri-State G&T Association, Unit 4: Salt River Project
- Plant Nameplate Capacity: 1,765.8 MW (Megawatts)
- Units and In-Service Dates: Unit 1: 424.8 MW (1985), Unit 2: 424.8 MW (1990), Unit 3: 458.1 MW (2006), Unit 4: 458.1 MW (2009)
- Location: Highway 666, Springerville, AZ 85938
- GPS Coordinates: 34.317194, -109.165968 (exact)
- Technology: Subcritical
- Coal type: Sub-bituminous
- Coal Consumption:
- Coal Source: North Antelope Rochelle Mine[2]
- Number of Employees:
- Unit Retirements:
Lawsuits
Springerville Units 3 and 4 were the subject of a lawsuit brought by Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest on behalf of Western Resource Advocates and Grand Canyon Trust. After a series of court decisions and hearing, a settlement was reached that allowed construction of the plants in exchange for lowered emissions and investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.[3]
On May 6, 2008, the Sierra Club sent a maximum achievable control technology (MACT) notice letter to Tucson Electric requiring the company to install technology to control mercury and other hazardous air pollutant emissions from the proposed units. By July 2008, Unit 3 was operational.[4]
On December 31, 2008, Unit 4 suffered a fire estimated to have caused $10 to $12 million in damage. While some construction has been rescheduled, the plant is projected to begin commercial production by the end of the year. It will begin burning oil in September 2009 and switch to burning coal soon after.[5]
On March 18, 2010, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued a revised, draft Title V operating permit for the Springerville Station, which incorporates mercury emission limits for the project. Springerville Generating Station Unit 4 began operating in December 2009.[4]
Unit 4 Energy Production and Consumer Costs
Springerville Generating Station's Unit 4 burns approximately 60 rail cars' worth of coal daily. The coal is mined in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. In the spring of 2009, customers will begin paying about $6 more on their monthly bills. The costs are due to the fact that the plant's construction overshot its cost by $350 million. Pending climate legislation could also make the plant's operations more expensive if it is forced to install pollution reduction equipment. As a result, popular support for the plant has waned.[6]
Citizen Groups
- Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, Tim Hogan, thogan [at] aclpi.org
- Western Resource Advocates, azbluhill [at] aol.com
- Grand Canyon Trust, info [at] grandcanyontrust.org
Resources
References
- ↑ "Springerville Generating Station," Springerville Generating Station, accessed July 14, 2019
- ↑ Springerville Generating Station, corporate summary of project, Tri-State Generation & Transmission, accessed January 2008.
- ↑ Air Quality and Clean Energy: Springerville Power Plant, Grand Canyon Trust, accessed January 2008.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Stopping the Coal Rush", Sierra Club, accessed March 2010.
- ↑ "New SRP generating unit to open despite fire", Ryan Randazzo, The Arizona Republic, March 3, 2009.
- ↑ "Arizona's last new coal plant?" Ryan Randazzo, The Arizona Republic, March 18, 2010.
Related SourceWatch Articles
- Carbon Capture and Storage
- Existing U.S. Coal Plants
- US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
- Coal plants cancelled in 2007
- Coal plants cancelled in 2008
- Arizona and coal
- Profiles of other states (or click on the map)
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External links
- “Tracking New Coal-Fired Power Plants,” National Energy Tech Lab, May 1, 2007, page 8. (Pdf)
- "Stopping the Coal Rush", Sierra Club, accessed January 2008. (This is a Sierra Club list of new coal plant proposals.)
- Springerville Generating Station, corporate overview of project, Salt River Project, accessed January 2008.
- "Comeback for Coal", Bechtel company magazine, March 2005.
