EIB Rejects EPA Effort to Shackle Power Plant

Capitol Report New Mexico - In a quicker than expected decision, the state’s Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) unanimously voted Thursday (June 2) to reject a measure backed by the federal government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aimed at reducing regional haze from the San Juan power plant outside Farmington and chose to adopt a statewide plan that is less costly. The San Juan facility is operated by New Mexico’s largest utility, PNM, and is coal-fired. Conservation groups wanted the EIB to adopt measures suggested by the EPA aimed at reducing particulate matter emitted from the plant. But PNM officials said implementing the EPA measures at San Juan could cost close to a billion dollars, which would be passed on to PNM customers around the state. Instead, the utility company recommended a less expensive procedure — estimated at $77 million — although it would not improve air quality as much as the EPA plan. The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) sided with PNM during testimony in front of the EIB in Santa Fe Wednesday. Read full story here: News New Mexico

EIB Rejects EPA Effort to Shackle Power Plant