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Welcome to Western Resource Advocates' Energy Program! On this page you'll find announcements and updates on the issues we're working on, which include promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency, creating business incentives for lowered greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing the impacts of existing coal plants. Use the buttons in the right column to find out more about our work.

WRA: Energy

Energy Program News

• Coal on Hold as NV Energy Pursues Renewables

NV Energy, the Nevada utility proposing to build the Ely Energy Center coal plant, decided to shelve plans for coal-based energy in favor of turning its attention to renewables. The high cost of building coal plants and lack of adequate technolgy to capture carbon emissions caused NV Energy to rethink its plans. Read more here.

• Pressing for Renewable Energy in Nevada

Charles Benjamin, Director of WRA's Nevada Office, went on the television program "Face to Face" to discuss NV Energy's plan to step back from developing the proposed Ely Energy Center coal plant with NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira. The program is in four parts. Click here to watch part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.

You can also see an earlier interview where Charles parries with Sierra Pacific Resource's Roberto Denis over the topic of renewable energy in Nevada. Watch the video here.


• Ely Energy Plant Delay Offers Opportunity for Renewables

Problems with permitting a coal-fired power plant in Ely, Nevada have opened the door for WRA and a consortium of other organizations to push Nevada power companies to accelerate their adoption of renewable energy generation. WRA, through its Nevada office, is leading the push to move the companies away from greenhouse-gasemitting power generation.

The Ely plant had been envisioned as a major part of the solution to Nevada’s growing energy demands. Now that permitting requirements and an increasingly unfavorable economic environment are creating significant doubts about when the plant could come online, other alternatives are being examined. While natural-gas-fired plants are an option, for the first time and at WRA’s urging, serious consideration is being given to exploiting Nevada’s abundant supply of renewable energy.

WRA’s Charles Benjamin is the tip of the spear that has prodded Nevada agencies and energy companies to realize there are options to building more coal plants. “Delays in permitting, ever-rising construction costs, and uncertainties regarding future greenhouse gas regulations are causing Nevada’s Board of Consumer Protection and Nevada’s PUC commissioners to question the wisdom of going forward with the 1,500-MW Ely Energy Center,” says Benjamin. “WRA is uniquely positioned to provide the Public Utility Commission and the people of Nevada with a plan for an energy future without the Ely Energy Center. In the coming months I’ll be working with my colleagues at WRA and our partners in Nevadans for Clean Affordable Reliable Energy to put forth an energy plan for Nevada based on Nevada’s vast resources of geothermal, solar, wind, and biomass resources and greater efficiencies in the use of energy.”

Benjamin and WRA, along with Nevada Senator and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are moving yet another western state toward adopting an energy plan based on clean, renewable energy.

• The Shift Is On: Colorado’s PUC Approves Xcel Energy’s Plan to Swap Coal for Renewables

Hard work by Western Resource Advocates over a decade has spurred a large energy company to decide to decommission fossil-fueled power generation in favor of cleaner energy resources and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The Colorado Public Utility Commission (PUC) granted final approval to Xcel Energy's Electric Resource Plan, allowing Xcel to phase out two aging coal-fired power plants and greatly expand energy efficiency programs and use of clean, renewable energy sources. This is the first time that a PUC has approved a utility resource plan to retire old and inefficient coal-fired power plants and replace them with cleaner, more modern power generation, with the goal of cutting global warming pollution.

The approval of the revolutionary resource plan marks a significant milestone in WRA’s efforts to push for large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by electric utilities in the West. WRA has worked for more than 10 years to convince Xcel to expand investments in clean energy technologies and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. In recent proceedings, WRA provided extensive expert testimony on the carbon reduction and public health benefits of the Xcel plan, key factors cited by the PUC in its approval.

"This is a pioneering decision by the PUC," said John Nielsen, WRA’s Energy Program director. "It clears the way for Xcel to put into action what is arguably the most innovative utility resource plan anywhere in the country, and it will only strengthen Colorado's status as a clean energy leader."

Xcel's innovative resource plan sets a benchmark for other utilities and states to follow.

WRA's Comments on Western Climate Initiative

• July 23, 2008 “Draft Design of the Regional Cap-and-Trade Program”
• Climate Security and Cost Management
• Electricity Point of Regulation Recommendations
• EPA Assesses Benefits of Reducing Global Warming Pollution
• May 16, 2008 Draft Design Recommendations

Challenging Three New Coal Plants Proposed by Tri-State; New Coal Plants Would Pollute for 50 to 60 Years

WRA and Environment Colorado are leading an effort to shift Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association away from plans to build three new coal plants and to invest in cleaner energy alternatives instead.

Tri-State is a large wholesale electric power supplier in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Tri-State provides power to 44 member electric cooperatives that together distribute power to over one million people.

Tri-State is partnering with Sunflower Electric Corporation in Kansas to build the coal plants, two of which would be located in western Kansas and one in eastern Colorado. WRA has done extensive research concluding that the plants are not needed to meet future energy demands.

“Tri-State anticipates beginning construction as early as 2008, so presenting alternatives to the three proposed coal plants is imperative,” says John Nielsen, WRA Energy Program director, adding “Stopping the plants will prevent their greenhouse gases from being emitted for the next 50 to 60 years, keeping roughly 750 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.”

Greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants lead to climate change, the impacts of which are expected to be big in the West. Warmer temperatures and changing precipitation patterns could dramatically reduce the region’s unique opportunities for outdoor recreation. Less snowfall, for example, could devastate the ski industry. Decreased precipitation results in lower stream flows and fewer opportunities for rafting, canoeing, and kayaking. Animal populations and fisheries may also be impacted, reducing opportunities for hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing.

In addition to protecting natural resources and recreation values, if we succeed in moving Tri-State away from its plans to invest in the coal plants we will provide some financial relief to the Tri-State’s rural electricity customers. Since 2003, Tri-State’s customers have seen over a 20% rate increase.. Because they will be asked to pay for the new plants, Tri-State’s customers will see a 65% rate increase by 2011 and more than a 110% increase by 2019, according to a WRA rate impact analysis. If global warming regulations and other risk factors are included in the analysis, rates could rise by as much as 160%. There are alternatives, however. As WRA’s Energy Program director, John Nielsen, concludes,“Energy efficiency and renewable energy could provide less costly power to Tri-State’s customers, help reduce future rate increases, and provide jobs and economic development across Tri-State’s service territory.”

Supreme Court Delivers a Precedent-Setting Victory for Air Quality in Utah

At the urging of WRA attorneys working out of its Utah office, the Utah Supreme Court recently delivered a precedent-setting victory for air quality protection and conservation organizations.

WRA is representing the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club in challenging two proposals to construct new coal-fired power plants near Sigurd and Delta, Utah.  This citizens group is concerned that coal-fired power plants would degrade air quality in nearby communities and at downwind national parks like Capital Reef.  It is also concerned about the global warming impacts of constructing two more coal-fired power plants that would emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.  The Sierra Club had urged the Utah Air Quality Board to seriously consider those issues so it could make the best possible decision for Utah and Utahns.

Unfortunately, the Utah Air Quality Board refused to let conservation groups and their members participate in the permit deliberations.  That left the groups with no choice but to appeal to the Utah state courts.  The Utah Supreme Court decisively resolved the question of whether citizens groups are entitled to participate in proceedings like this, which will affect public health and Utah's environment for decades to come.  Its answer was an emphatic “YES.”  According to the Utah Supreme Court, “Sierra Club members have an interest in ensuring that the construction and the operation of the plant comply with all applicable state and federal environmental laws as well as with state administrative procedures, thus preventing any needless and unlawful pollution or other environmental destruction.”

As a result of these landmark rulings, conservation organizations across Utah whose members’ health, economic livelihoods, property or recreational pursuits are affected by government decisions will be able to challenge whether the government is following environmental laws and regulations.  These rulings clarify when citizens may participate in front of Utah agencies and courts, ensuring that citizens can voice their concerns about potentially harmful projects.

Now the Sierra Club is back to square one.  The Utah Air Quality Board will have to conduct a trial on whether the air quality permits sufficiently protect public health and downwind areas.  But this time it must allow the conservation group the opportunity to make its case that if a new coal plant is needed at all, it should incorporate state-of-the-art pollution controls.  The Utah Air Quality Board has set September and November 2007 for the trials of the air quality permits for the two proposed plants. WRA attorneys will continue to represent the Sierra Club in its efforts to protect air and our way of life.

Energy Transmission in the West

Energy transmission – linking natural gas supplies and electricity to customers – is a critically important component in the big picture of energy production and consumption. Energy corridors for natural gas and electric power lines need to be safe, reliable, and forward-thinking. In recent years, power blackouts throughout the country have highlighted concerns about reliability and power line congestion. In response, and to meet future energy demands, power companies, utilities, and federal agencies are now proposing to overhaul and update the national grid system. The price tag will be billions of dollars.

In the West, there are numerous regional transmission proposals presently on the table – for example, those linking Wyoming and Montana power supplies to Arizona, Nevada, and California. Moreover, in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, Congress mandated that the Department of Energy, working with other federal and state agencies, officially designate energy transmission corridors in 11 western states.

At WRA, we view these transmission proposals as both a threat and a major opportunity. The threat concerns the location and siting of these corridors – potentially miles wide and thousands of miles long – as they weave their way through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and California. Thousands of acres of sensitive public lands are at risk and WRA is working to ensure that national forests, parks, monuments, and other pristine and wild western landscapes are unharmed in the designation process. Indeed, preliminary maps of potential corridors reveal that the Cascade-Siskiyou, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Sonoran Desert National Monuments, as well as Joshua Tree National Park, and several wilderness study areas may be heavily impacted by these corridors.

These proposals also offer a major opportunity to promote a balanced and sustainable energy policy for the West. First and foremost, energy transmission corridors must be located and regulated to allow areas of potential wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass power to easily tie-in. Because wind and solar generation sources are abundant in the West, new transmission lines must facilitate the maximum use of these renewable energy resources. Second, for any proposal that may use coal-generated power, we will be working to ensure that cutting-edge technologies are employed to significantly reduce air emissions at power plant facilities while also sequestering carbon-dioxide, a major greenhouse gas affecting global warming. Lastly, we’ll be working to ensure that investments in energy efficiency are maximized. Increasing energy efficiency can avoid the need for new power plants and potentially eliminate the need for some new transmission lines.

All of these proposals offer the public an opportunity to weigh in and comment. In particular, we expect a draft environmental study this summer for the western transmission corridor proposal. Get involved to ensure that important public lands are protected and that transmission corridors promote and facilitate a sustainable energy policy focused on renewable energy sources and energy-efficiency. WRA will provide updates in coming months on this website

Recent Developments:

WRA and Environmental Defense Release Report: Proposed Southwest Coal Plants Will Create Flood of Global Warming Pollution (January 2007)

If more than a dozen coal-fired power plants planned for Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah begin operating, they would emit global warming pollution equivalent to the tailpipe exhaust of 12.5 million cars driving around the Southwest for a year. The potential for such a huge increase in carbon dioxide emissions is the focus of a new report from Environmental Defense and Western Resource Advocates: “Climate Alert: Cleaner Energy for the Southwest.”

WRA releases a new report:
California's Increasing Dependence on Coal-Fired Power Plants in the American West

Clearing California's Coal Shadow from the American West