Entergy: Construction start on plant probably delayed

Construction of a power-generating unit fueled by a refinery byproduct likely will be delayed because of a federal court ruling, a division of Entergy Corp. said last Tuesday.

In February, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia stuck down an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that permitted a pollution trading system instead of requiring power plants to install the best available mercury controls.

EPA is appealing the ruling, which does not directly involve Entergy.

Entergy Louisiana LLC said Tuesday that the decision may force the utility to submit additional environmental analysis to show the project at the St. Charles Parish plant will meet the best available controls standard.

In a news release, Entergy Louisiana said it was confident the plant’s design would meet the standard.

Entergy Louisiana said none of the 4,200 workers expected on the construction phase of the project had yet been hired. Based on the previous projection of construction beginning in July, the company had hoped to be generating power in either 2011 or 2012. Construction likely will be delayed for several months, the utility said.

The Little Gypsy plant near Montz, La., northwest of New Orleans, currently burns oil and natural gas to produce electricity. The company plans to spend $1.55 billion to rebuild the largest of its three generators to use coal and petroleum coke, a plentiful refining byproduct.

Entergy Louisiana has said the generator will stabilize energy costs for its 640,000 customers by reducing reliance on increasingly expensive natural gas.

The Sierra Club has opposed the plant, saying the change would increase carbon emissions.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission approved the project last November.

A lawsuit by New Jersey and 16 other states triggered the February court ruling. The suit contends the EPA plan, which would allow power plants to purchase emissions credit instead of making pollution reductions, creates high concentrations of mercury near some plants.

Under emissions credits programs, a cap is set in an area on a total acceptable amount of a particular pollutant. Companies wanting to increase their emissions buy credits from those who pollute less.

The states want all plants to be required to install the best available pollution controls, which could lead to major rejections of mercury emissions.