More Use of Oil Eyed for Power Plants

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Massachusetts environmental officials, hoping to stave off natural gas shortages and blackouts, are weighing whether to let four gas-powered plants switch to dirtier oil up to 50 percent more often this winter in a move that could sharply increase pollution.

BOSTON — Massachusetts environmental officials, hoping to stave off natural gas shortages and blackouts, are weighing whether to let four gas-powered plants switch to dirtier oil up to 50 percent more often this winter in a move that could sharply increase pollution.


State regulations restrict the number of days the four gas-powered plants are allowed to burn oil. The plan under consideration would allow air-pollution emissions to rise to higher federal limits. That means the four plants could burn oil anywhere from 6 to 32 more days -- or 20 to 50 percent more -- this winter if their owners choose.


Statewide, according to data provided by the Department of Environmental Protection, the move would lead to 50 more tons of particulate matter, or soot, being emitted annually, and also a 1 percent statewide increase in smelly, smog-forming sulfur dioxide from electric generation.


While the impact is negligible on annual statewide pollution totals, the effects of additional emissions are likely to be felt near the plants' home communities, in Bellingham, Dartmouth, Pittsfield, and Springfield. Residents, particularly those with asthma and lung disease, might be bothered by changes in air quality.


"It definitely could lead to additional smog-forming pollution that has regional and localized effects," said Cindy Luppi, a spokeswoman for Clean Water Action, a Boston environmental group that has battled power-plant pollution. "When a power plant that usually burns gas switches to oil, people nearby will likely experience increased soot fallout and they might see additional plumes of pollution, but much of this pollution is invisible."


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But Governor Mitt Romney's top environmental regulator said the state is trying to plan ahead to avoid an even worse crisis -- blackouts on the most bitterly cold days of winter.


"I would hope that people would be heartened by the fact that we are looking at this in advance," said Robert W. Golledge, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, in an interview. "This is an effort by the DEP, working with the environmental community and industry, to prevent a problem, and being proactive and transparent is the right way to do it."


State energy officials are bracing for the worst this winter: brutal cold that taxes hurricane-restricted natural gas supplies for heating, driving prices up to the point that gas-fired power plant owners can make more money by selling gas to the spot market than by using it to produce electricity. That scenario could result in life-threatening blackouts.


Promoting more electric generation from oil would address both problems, bolstering electric supply while reducing gas demand. But it would come at the cost of adding tons more smog-causing pollution and soot to Bay State skies.


The four plants under state review are the MassPower plant in Springfield, Altresco in Pittsfield, and two plants owned by FPL Energy Inc. in Dartmouth and Bellingham. The state is focusing on these plants because they can switch between gas and oil.


Collectively, the four plants generate enough power for 630,000 homes on an average day. Three of the plants are among the 20 biggest of all types in the state, which can each produce power for anywhere from 100,000 to 1 million homes. The state also has several dozen smaller power plants.


Golledge said he does not expect to make recommendations to Romney for four more weeks.


Environmental groups, including Clean Water Action and Boston's Conservation Law Foundation, say they want to see what specific changes are being recommended. "From a pollution standpoint, I don't know that we know enough detail to assess whether this is merely bad news or really bad news," said Lori A. Ehrlich, a founding member of HealthLink, a Swampscott environmental advocacy group that has battled for tougher air-pollution controls at the Salem Harbor power plant.


FPL and Sempra Energy Trading Co., which own or market power from the four plants in question, did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.


State environmental officials have also asked energy companies whether plants in Everett, Salem, Sandwich, Somerset, and South Boston that run exclusively on oil could make more electricity if the state eased their pollution permits.


But Golledge said it's not clear if any of them could significantly increase output, and in the near term, state officials are looking chiefly at raising the oil-burning limits at gas-powered plants.


Jim Norvelle, a spokesman for Dominion Energy, a Virginia energy conglomerate that owns the Salem and Somerset power plants, agreed that "there's a whole lot we don't know yet." Both plants make most of their electricity from coal, but also have oil-powered generators on site.


Asked whether he thinks Dominion believes it could increase the oil units' electrical output if the DEP let them pollute more, Norvelle said, "It's a little early to say what Dominion would or could do, but Dominion believes New England needs to continue to diversify its fuel mix" and promote alternatives to natural gas for electric generation. After a wave of gas-plant construction in the late 1990s, New England now relies on gas for nearly half its electricity.


Sarah M. Stashak, a spokeswoman for Mirant Corp. of Atlanta, which owns the Canal plant in Sandwich, said Canal physically cannot make more electricity than the 1,109 megawatts it does now, an output that could power about 830,000 homes on an average day.


"Canal is already burning oil at its capacity," Stashak said. "The plant continues to comply with its existing emissions limits and will not be seeking modifications to either its operations or permits with regard to this winter's potential natural gas shortage."


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Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News