Don Brown • 12 years ago
I work for PNM, the New Mexico electric utility that operates San Juan Generating Station on behalf of 8 other owners, and this piece contains significant factual errors about the plant:
* Contrary to allegations by the Sierra Club, the San Juan plant is one of the top-performing coal plants in the nation in terms of mercury removal. In fact, the plant already is prepared to meet proposed, new EPA limits on mercury emissions. More info: http://goo.gl/rZH0L
* The plant fully complies with the federal Clean Air Act and we are proud of its environmental performance. In fact, plant owners just recently spent $320 million to install state-of-the-art emissions controls. As a result of those upgrades, emissions of nitrogen dioxide fell by 44 percent, sulfur dioxide by 71 percent, particulate matter by 72 percent and mercury by 87 percent.
* The EPA has approved its own plan to require the plant to install additional controls to improve visibility in area parks and wilderness areas. We are appealing this ruling because of the enormous expense of the EPA-required technology. The State of New Mexico has approved its own plan for San Juan that would further improve air quality and meet federal requirements but do so at one-tenth of the cost ($77 million versus about $750 million or more for the EPA-required technology). We support the state plan and are willing to make this new investment. Ultimately, the costs of complying with either plan will be borne by the 2 million electric users in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and California the plant serves and who depend on the plant for reliable, affordable power.
We are committed to continuing to improve the plant's performance and would appreciate the opportunity to comment in advance of publication on any future stories regarding San Juan Generating Station. More info on the plant is available at www.pnm.com/sanjuan. Thank you.
Don Brown
Customer and Corporate Communications
PNM
Albuquerque, N.M.
Excellent reporting!
Now consider reporting on how the grid lines currently bringing dirty coal power from the five plants can be used to bring wind, solar, and geothermal power to California, especially as the coal plants progressively get closed down.