Momentum may have appeared just in time last week forCalifornia’s sluggish power plant siting system with stateapprovals on short- and long-term electricity capacity additionsand the prospects for putting another 2,000-plus MW in play by theend of February

With these additions, six projects totaling nearly 5,000 MW havebeen approved with at least half of the capacity slated to come online next summer, albeit late in the air-conditioning season.

California’s power plant siting agency Oct. 25 unanimouslyapproved Duke Energy’s plans to build new facilities at itsexisting Moss Landing generating plant site along the centralCalifornia coast, adding 1,200-MW capacity while eliminating eight225-foot smoke stakes and 10 oil storage tanks at the generatingsite developed in the early 1950s. After a 22-month review process,Duke officials said they will begin construction today (Oct. 30).

The $500 million project includes dismantling the smokestacks,tanks and five generation units that have been mothballed,replacing them with two newer, more efficient natural gas-firedcombined-cycle units. The existing units generating about 1,500-MWalso will be upgraded.

In separate action, the California Energy Commission alsoapproved a fast-track 51-MW plant at San Francisco InternationalAirport to be developed by El Paso Merchant Energy as a preliminaryproject to a larger 570-MW natural gas-fired plant it intends tobuild at the same site. El Paso intends to file a separateapplication for the larger plant with the state commission inNovember.

This is the first project accepted for review by the energycommission under terms of a new state law enacted late this summerto speed up the approval process on some new power plant projects.Permanent new rules and regulations for the expedited, six-monthsiting process will be considered by the energy plant siteregulators Nov. 8.

At Moss Landing, as part of the conditions of the stateapproval, Duke has agreed to pay $7 million to help mitigate theimpacts of the power plant’s operations on the surrounding marinebiology in the area. It also must pay $425,000 to the Monterey BaySanctuary Foundation to fund the Coastal Waters Evaluation Program,evaluating the effects on biological resources in the Bay resultingfrom the power plant’s thermal discharge.

“Moss Landing becomes the sixth California plant approved sincethe state’s electricity market was restructured in March 1998,” theenergy commission said in its formal announcement on its action.”When operating, these plants will represent a total generationcapacity of 4,708-MW, with 2,048-MW expected to be on-line by2001.” (Most would not be operable until the middle- to late-summernext year, a time when energy officials expect a supply crunchagain.)

The other five new plants already approved-three of which arealready under construction-represent a collective investment ofmore than $2 billion.

In a separate action on Monday, Duke re-filed its revised plansfor its Morro Bay plant about 80 miles south of Moss. That proposalnow calls for total tearing down of the existing generation units,including smokestacks and storage tanks, and replacement with newunits that generate 1,200-1,300-MW with a relatively smallfootprint in the local community, to which Duke is making a numberof monetary and environmental concessions.

The energy commission-approved “fast-track” plant by El Paso iscalled the United Golden Gate Power Project, involves a simplecycle power plant at the city’s airport in suburban San MateoCounty immediately south of San Francisco.

“Only simple-cycle plants that present no significant adverseenvironmental impact, and are equipped with best air emissionscontrol technology are eligible for this fast-track reviewprocess,” the energy commission announcement stated, noting thatthe new state law applies to only “certain types” of power plants.

At the same meeting Oct. 25, the power plant regulators deniedapproving several small, peak-shaving plant proposals by San Jose,CA-based Calpine Corp., meaning the applications have to revisedbefore they can be reconsidered.

Richard Nemec, Los Angeles

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