« Ind. Gov't. - "City parks simply no place for your firearms" | Main | Ind. Gov't. - Another voice on: "State Sen. Tom Wyss wants Indiana’s attorney general to issue an opinion on the legality of the bill before Fort Wayne City Council that would ban city contractors from making political donations to city politicians." »

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Environment - More on "Purdue poised to cancel coal-fired power plant"

Updating this ILB entry from Feb. 4, 2011, the Sunday Lafayette Courier & Press has a lengthy feature by Eric Weddle, headed "Does Purdue's $4.2 million flip-flop on coal plant prove costly or save millions?" The story begins:

Purdue University's decision last February to cancel a major upgrade to its Wade Utility Plant -- a project planned for nearly 10 years -- was hailed by environmentalists who fought the project.

Purdue officials, too, claimed a victory, saying the decision to cancel was prudent given the uncertainty of clean air regulations years down the road and a decline in natural gas prices.

One side that didn't win, at least in the short haul, was taxpayers. Cancellation of the massive project came at considerable cost, records obtained by the Journal & Courier show.

Nearly $4.5 million could be the final cost for canceling the $54.5 million project that would have replaced a 51-year-old coal boiler with a new generation "clean coal" boiler.

Most of that money -- $4.2 million -- has already been spent, according to invoices. Additional close-out costs could push the total to $4.5 million officials said.

Purdue administrators say the benefits of canceling the project could easily outweigh the costs, given the regulatory and price uncertainties of coal.

Bob McMains, Purdue's vice president of physical facilities, said opposition to the boiler replacement project by the Sierra Club and Hoosier Environmental Council did not drive the decision to cancel.

"I just couldn't commit to going through with the coal boiler. We looked around, and Purdue was the only school expanding coal. Why are we the only one?" he said. "Who made these assumptions and when? We needed the kick in the pants to look at other options."

The story reports that Purdue also has now canceled plans for the natural gas-fired boiler that was planned to replace the coal plant, with an "energy master plan" expected to be unveiled in the fall.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 14, 2011 09:20 AM
Posted to Environment | Indiana Government