Three power plants are proposed to be built near Fermilab:
- Huston-based Reliant Energy seeks to build an 870 megawatt gas
burning power plant southeast of Butterfield and Eola Rd intersection.
The company is purchasing 100 acres of land
between Butterfield and Ferry Rd from DuPage Property Ventures,
the plant is to be built on 40 acres.
The purchase contract will take
effect upon Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) permit
for the plant.
Project cost: 400 million dollars.
- Indek Power, INRON, and Standard Power and Light all seek
approval to build a 800 MW plant at DuPage County Airport, south edge,
bordering with Fermilab. The three companies compete for this location.
The Airport Authority investigates air turbulence, tall power
stacks - obstacles to landing on southern approach to the airport.
- Constellation Power Development from Maryland proposes a 300 MW plant in West
Chicago, north of Hawthorn Lane, west of the railroad tracks.
Special use permit is required from the city. West Chicago city
council postponed the public hearing
to allow more time for research.
Deadlines,
public hearing dates, etc.
Industry Motivation
With the deregulation in the energy generation industry,
many new companies enter the Illinois market and see
the advantage of building power plants in the Chicago
area where we have experienced tight capacity constraints in the hot
summers of the last two years. The demand for the electricity depends
strongly on the season and the time of the day - with the many-fold
increase in the demand in the afternoon and evening on hottest summer days,
when the residential air conditioning is most broadly used.
Last summer, ComEd was very close to maximum capacity and had to
purchase power from other utilities at prices up to 250 times higher
than non-peak demand ones.
"Peaker" power plants proposed near Fermilab
are designed to capitalize on this emergency demand.
The locations selected by the companies are
adjacent to high voltage power lines and natural-gas
lines are in a close vicinity. This allows for the fast construction
and operation of the new plants.
In fact, ComEd suggested to place a new power plant somewhere
between the Eola and Wayne high voltage junctions
to address the "through-put" limitation of high voltage lines
delivering electricity to west suburbs from far south locations.
Data on Pollution
Natural gas burning peaker power stations pollute substantially
less than coal-fired all-year round power plants.
According to the Reliant company statistics, their 870 MW plant would
release 248 tons of nitrogen oxides,
211 tons of carbon monoxide, 29 tons of particulate matter, and 3 tons of
sulfur dioxide annually
(with bulk of emissions concentrated around summer time).
The company compares these emissions (e.g. 248 tons of nitrogen oxides)
with cumulative emissions from
residential furnaces: 1,745 tons,
lawn mowers: 370 tons, commuter auto traffic: 1,040 tons of NOx,
where the pollution has been integrated over 880,000 residents of
the DuPage county.
Information on the aerial spread of the pollution, and an increase
in the concentration of toxic substances in the vicinity of the plant
are hard to find. Comparison with other point sources
reveals that Reliant (or DuPage County Airport) plants
would be the most polluting
industry complexes in DuPage and Kane counties (see
scorecard.org).
Nitrous oxides interacting with volatile organic compounds
in the presense of light and heat create
highly toxic ground-level
ozone. EPA pdf-format
brochure explains health and environmental impacts of NOx
and ozone.
Read on EPA's strategy for reducing ozone transported across states
region5
and state-wide
NOx Budgets and Reduction Requirements.
Logistic Loophole in the Deregulated System
- The IEPA?s only regulatory authority over peaker plants applies
to air emissions which have to meet the state?s minimum air pollution
standards before they are issued a permit to operate.
The proposed plants easily pass these regulations,
based on their lower emissions compared
to coal and oil-burning generation stations.
IEPA director Tom Skinner stated that the control over
the peaker power plants rests in the hands of city and county
governments (see
Pioneer Press editorial).
- Currently, local municipalities, which were never responsible
for such issues,
do not have laws to address power generation.
Any land zoned for industry can be acquired by electric
companies and the city "can not deny the permitted use" (compare
Chicago Tribune article).
-
Cumulative effect of new power plants, local need for more generation
capacity, siting these plants near residential or wildlife refuge areas
are not addressed.
- LOCAL NEED? Just one of the plants proposed
near Fermilab can generate eunough electricity for 250,000-300,000
households - 1 million people. Projected growth between 1999 and 2020
of DuPage and Kane counties is 270,000 people (Reliant company statistics).
Fermilab, when operating the accelerator, uses 60-70 MW. City of
Batavia - 60 MW.
The three plants together will be able to generate peak demand electricity for
close to 2.2 million residents.
One would think that market forces would resolve this excess generation.
Yes, and no: the companies can build power plants here and sell their
electricity elsewhere. Illinois deregulation happened faster than
in neighboring states, and companies are also charged about 1/10 of the
tax here compared to, e.g., Wisconsin. The proposed plants are
not well suited to replace older, more polluting coal power plants.
It is substantially more costly for the industry to generate
electricity using peaker plants - they are designed for
quick turn-on, and use a single cycle - 2/3 of the energy is
thrown up the stack in the form of a very hot plume. Efficiency could
be doubled if a second "steam turbine" cycle was added.
- If companies' plans go unchallenged, Fermilab will soon be surrounded by
industrially-looking and industrially-polluting complexes.
Reliant plant is to have 10 turbines, and 10 up to 100-feet tall power
stacks. Quality of life at the Laboratory will be affected. Our
prairie restoration, conservation of natural habitat and recreational
value of the area will suffer.
- We, Fermilab users, employees, nearby residents, should not abdicate
our right to environmental protection because a loophole has been
created in the deregulated system.
Action Items
and Appeal
See also
Power Plants and Our Environment web page from Illinois Sierra Club.
Conservation and Energy Efficiency Programs
Residential air conditioning creates the largest need for electricity
in the peak demand time. Replacing older air conditioning units
with energy-efficient ones can save up 30% of the energy used.
Initial investment can be repaid in about 3 years.
Commonwealth Edison has introduced a "Nature First" energy
saving program. The program manages demand for
electricity by cycling central air conditioners in the
houses on and off (for 15 min) during the peak demand time.
To sign up use ComEd
web page.
How else can we help to reduce the need for more peaker plants?
Fermilab's engineer Ed Barsotti offers these
Energy Saving Tips .
Lucyna de Barbaro <lucyna99@yahoo.com>
Last modified: Thu Mar 2 11:33:38 CST 2000
