Governor issues emergency order to avoid partial Jim Bridger power plan shutdown
Gov. Mark Gordon issued an emergency suspension order Monday seeking to temporarily block the Environmental Protection Agency from potentially shutting down one of four coal-burning units at the Jim Bridger power plant for falling out of compliance with regional haze parameters.
Jim Bridger owner and operator PacifiCorp — which operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming — has until Jan. 1 to install “selective catalytic reduction” controls to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions at unit 2, and until the end of 2022 to install the controls at unit 1, under current EPA guidelines. The utility, however, never initiated the expensive and lengthy installation process because of a tentative deal struck between it, the state and the EPA, according to Gordon.
EPA, however, has yet to finalize that agreement, which would allow PacifiCorp to forgo expensive SCR controls to meet regional haze parameters for the power plant. The delay contributed to the late-stage showdown.
“We had a deal,” Gordon said in a Monday press release. “PacifiCorp, EPA and Wyoming all agreed in 2020 that the regional haze guidelines would not only be met, but exceeded with the revised [State Implementation Plan]. Now, with that deal unilaterally abandoned by EPA, this emergency order is necessary to protect Wyoming workers from EPA’s recklessness.”
Read more: https://wyofile.com/gov-issues-emergency-order-to-avoid-partial-jim-bridger-shutdown/