[News From SheridanMedia.com]
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon on Monday signed a Temporary Emergency Suspension Order that allows Unit 2 of the Jim Bridger Power Plant to continue operating for at least four months and avert a New Year’s Day shut down of the unit. Sheridan Media’s Ron Richter has more.
Governor Signs Order to Keep Jim Bridger Power Plant Unit Operating
A little more than eighteen months ago Wyoming submitted a revised State Implementation Plan (SIP) to the Environmental Protection Agency that would have allowed Unit 2 of the Jim Bridger power plant near Rock Springs to continue to operate and still meet the regional haze guidelines. The revised SIP was originally approved by the EPA in 2020, but earlier this year, the EPA administrator reversed course and refused to honor the prior approval. Consequently, a costly and outdated State Implementation Plan remains in effect. According to the Governor’s Office, that SIP requires the addition of expensive selective catalytic reduction equipment to be installed on Unit 2 by December 31, 2021. At this date, it is impossible to add such equipment.
The Clean Air Act gives Gordon the authority to issue this temporary suspension order to keep Unit 2 operating and prevent job losses that would occur at the plant and the mine, according to a study conducted by a professor at the University of Wyoming. Gordon said he cannot let DC’s failure put Wyoming people out of work and lead to a loss of energy availability for Wyoming consumers from a coal fired unit. Gordon added that they had a deal – PacifiCorp, EPA and Wyoming all agreed in 2020 that the regional haze guidelines would not only be met, but exceeded with the revised SIP, and now with that deal unilaterally abandoned by the EPA, this emergency order is necessary to protect Wyoming workers from EPA’s recklessness.
The temporary extension could be disapproved by the EPA, but Gordon said Wyoming believes the suspension meets all the legal requirements of the Clean Air Act and should be allowed to remain in effect.
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Last modified: December 28, 2021