2007 Highlights
Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby became the first public official in the nation to deny air permits required for coal plant construction on the basis of impacts from global climate change. A big ruckus ensued, with pro-coal legislators claiming the action was illegal and against ‘the will of the people’, while public polling results indicated otherwise.
Click here for more on our work in 2007.
2008 Highlights
Pro-coal interests introduced identical 60+ page bills in both houses of the legislature to force permitting of the Sunflower Electric coal plant expansion at Holcomb Station. Governor Sebelius vetoed three versions of the bills, and her vetoes were upheld. The election saw dramatic change at the federal level, but little change to the state coal plant dynamic.
Click here for more on our work in 2008.
2009 Highlights
Pro-renewable energy and public health advocates gained votes in the Kansas House to sustain expected vetoes of new pro-coal and anti-regulatory bills. Public poll results showed continued opposition to the proposed Kansas coal plant for Colorado. But when Sebelus departed to become Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Parkinson immediately made public his secret settlement agreement with Sunflower Electric allowing the construction of the coal plant.
Click here for more on our work in 2009.
2010 Highlights
Pro-coal and anti-regulatory legislators began an assault upon KDHE and EPA to ensure a clear path to construction for the proposed coal plant, even as EPA announced a bevy of new and long-delayed public health and environmental measures. The public comment process on the draft permit for the proposed coal plant saw an unprecedented number of comments, while the governor’s office fired Secretary Bremby and worked with pro-coal legislators and special interests to apply political pressure on KDHE. In December, under intense pressure and just prior to new EPA greenhouse gas regulations, KDHE granted a permit for the coal plant.
Click here for more on our work in 2010.
Background
In October of 2007, Secretary Rod Bremby of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, exercising statutory authority, denied air quality permits to two 700 MW coal-fired power plants proposed by Sunflower Electric Power Corporation for the Holcomb Station expansion. As a result, state legislators publicly announced that they would seek to reverse Bremby’s decision during the 2008 legislative session. At that point, Secretary Bremby’s denial of air quality permits for proposed coal-fired power plants was the ONLY instance of coal-fired generation in the nation delayed or denied on the basis of CO2 emissions tied to global warming, and adverse health and environmental impacts.
Immediately after the KDHE denial, some legislative leaders publicly decried the decision, claiming it was “overreaching”, “unpopular,” and “out of step” with most Kansans. In the late fall of 2007, two separate independently conducted polls showed otherwise. Poll results released by the Land Institute’s Climate and Energy Project showed that statewide 62% of Kansans approved of the Bremby decision and opposed the plants; with a clear majority of Kansans agreeing with the KDHE decision in every one of the state’s four congressional districts (up to 70% approval in the 3rd Congressional District). Furthermore, 75% of all Kansans statewide expressed their strong preference for greater development of the state’s vast wind resources.
Despite overwhelming support by their constituents for the Bremby decision to block the proposed coal plants, legislative leadership vowed to dedicate their efforts during the 2008 legislative session to overturning KDHE and forcing the state to approve the coal plants. This despite ongoing administrative agency review of the decision and pending legal action initiated by Sunflower Electric and proceeding according to state law in District Court and at the State Supreme Court.
2008
Legislative Session
In the 2008 Kansas legislative session, GPACE led a coordinated legislative strategy contributing to the defeat of anti-regulatory and unconstitutional legislation, in collaboration with the Office of the Governor, some of the partner organizations listed below, and a bi-partisan group of Kansas legislators (primarily in the House).
Governor Sebelius vetoed three bills that would have forced the permitting of the proposed Holcomb expansion (1400MW) and stripped the KDHE Secretary’s authority relative to air quality permitting. The House sustained two vetoes without final action, and one was sustained when the House fell just short of the two-thirds majority needed to override. The final veto nixed a massive (likely unconstitutional) “economic development” bill with incentives and money targeting every region of the state, including the same poison-pill provisions that forced the permitting of the Holcomb plants and stripped the KDHE Secretary of authority to regulate emissions.
The 2008 Kansas legislative session was one of the most rancorous in recent memory. The “Holcomb” legislation was the single most contentious issue of the 2008 session, if not any session during Governor Sebelius’s term. The “Holcomb” bills became an albatross by the close of the session, and the nature, duration, and impacts of the legislative push for the “coal plant” bills raised energy policy as a public issue statewide.
Election
All 165 Kansas legislative seats were up for election in the 2008 cycle. Americans for Prosperity launched its “Hot Air” national tour (from Kansas) to discredit action to halt global warming. The Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry held events headlined by partisan climate change deniers and launched aggressive fundraising for its PAC with the intent to defeat as many anti-Holcomb legislators as possible in the 08 elections (citing “regulatory uncertainty” created by the Bremby decision and subsequent vetoes of pro-coal, anti-regulatory legislation). The Chamber announced their intent to make the proposed coal-fired power plants an issue once again in the 2009 session.
Pre-election polling showed continued strong public opposition statewide to new coal-fired power plants and support for developing Kansas’ wind resources. However, election results were mixed, with several key losses and gains on both sides of the issue. In the end, the anticipated vote count to sustain a gubernatorial veto of pro-Holcomb legislation remained virtually identical as in the 2008 session.
2009
Advocacy & Education
During 2009, GPACE continued an effective grassroots education and advocacy strategy through partnerships with numerous local, statewide, and national organizations. Together with many of these partners, GPACE organized the second annual Clean Energy Day at the Kansas State Capitol. On this day in March, over 300 Kansans joined together to rally and meet with their elected representatives.
GPACE traveled to Nolan County, Texas and produced a 17-minute film titled In Search of the Renewable Energy Economy. This film focused on the economic impacts of wind energy development in Texas as a model for what is possible in western Kansas and was widely disseminated and viewed by key stakeholders in Kansas.
Polling
We also conducted statewide polling on energy issues with a bipartisan team of experienced pollsters. The results of this poll showed – among other things – that 88 percent of Kansans feel it is important that Kansas become energy independent by developing the natural gas and wind resources that already exist in the state.
Legislative Session & Settlement Agreement
Additionally, GPACE spearheaded an effective lobbying effort during the 2009 session of the Kansas Legislature, coordinating strategy and communication focused on key legislators and staff in the Office of the Governor (as Governor Sebelius departed for a Cabinet position with President Obama, and Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson became governor). Ironically, prior to Governor Parkinson’s stunning turnaround to negotiate a secret deal with Sunflower Electric, GPACE led lobbying efforts that saw a dramatic increase in the vote margin to sustain a gubernatorial veto of pro-coal/anti-regulatory legislation – from a margin of one vote to sustain at the start of the session, to at least nine votes heading into the veto session. Every major stakeholder in the “coal bill” – from the Speaker of the House, to Sunflower’s CEO, to supportive legislators, to the Governor, to the capitol press corps – acknowledged that pro-Holcomb forces did not have the votes to overturn a veto. GPACE was a key leader of the efforts to educate legislators and their constituents about the proposed legislation and to sustain anticipated vetoes.
In the wake of Governor Mark Parkinson’s compromise agreement, GPACE provided the earliest and most comprehensive analysis of the settlement agreement. Multiple media outlets in the region picked up this breakdown.
2010
Legislative Session
The 2010 session of the Kansas Legislature started from a very difficult and divided position (due to historic budget deficits, low revenue, and splits between recommended policies by the governor’s office, moderate Republican legislators, conservative Republican legislators, and Democrats).
Of note during the 2010 session were:
- Local push-back by a bi-partisan coalition from six counties impacted by the proposed Keystone oil sands pipeline project against an abatement of local taxes given to Keystone by Republican legislative leadership (above and beyond the state tax and business incentives provided to Keystone).
- Ultimate failure of PACE legislation crafted by a bipartisan coalition of legislators and with broad support among Kansas communities.
- An amendment attached to the final omnibus budget bill in both the House (by Rep. Neufeld) and the Senate (by Sen. Huelskamp) that would have prevented any state agency from providing any funds or resources to any process in Kansas related in any way to the EPA endangerment finding regarding CO2. The amendment was an 11th-hour provision crafted by conservative business and anti-regulatory entities, and was apparently intended to prevent KDHE from using the endangerment finding to block or delay the proposed coal plant permit process (among other issues). However, the amendment would have had the result of delaying the KDHE permitting process for almost a year and almost certainly would have drawn direct intervention from EPA, necessitating repeal of the measure in the 2011 session. At the encouragement of utilities and other special interests (some of whom finally realized their mistake), Governor Parkinson vetoed the measure (line item).
KCC – Net Metering
During the summer, the Kansas Corporation Commission received public comment on and then released final recommendations for the ‘net-metering’ policy required by the ‘settlement agreement’ related to the Sunflower Electric coal plant. The standards adopted by the KCC are widely held by Kansas citizens and national experts to be extremely deficient, and even a step backward compared to the previously existing parallel generation standards in Kansas. As a result, Kansas has not gained anything approaching fair net metering, even under the limited standards that were supposed to be part of the settlement agreement between the governor’s office, Sunflower Electric, and Republican leadership in the legislature.
Sunflower Electric – Holcomb 2 Permit
In January, Sunflower Electric filed an air quality permit application with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for the 895mw “settlement” coal plant. EPA confirmed the endangerment finding for CO2 (as directed by the US Supreme Court) and a number of proposed GHG regulations have followed, including proposed GHG BACT standards for stationary sources of CO2 (such as coal plants) to take effect on January 3rd, 2011. In addition to regulatory progress on GHG/carbon controls by 2010, EPA had released or proposed a host of new regulatory provisions for emissions that will impact coal-fired power plants, including new standards for ozone, mercury, sulfur dioxide, and coal combustion wastes.
On July 1, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) issued a draft permit for the proposed Sunflower Electric 895 MW coal-fired power plant and announced the start of a public comment period concluding on August 15th. Three public hearings were held as follows:
- Monday, August 2 in Overland Park at Blue Valley Northwest High School
- Wednesday, August 4 in Salina at the Highway Patrol Training Center Auditorium
- Thursday, August 5 in Garden City at the Garden City Community College Joyce Auditorium
GPACE representatives attended all hearings (providing oral comments in Overland Park and Salina), which began at 2:00 PM, recessed at 5:00 PM, and reconvened at 6:30 PM, continuing until all written or verbal comments were submitted.
GPACE Advocacy on Public Comments
The process conducted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment regarding the proposed Sunflower Electric coal plant draft permit elicited an unprecedented number of comments from the public. By August 15th, GPACE members alone submitted well over 800 individual written public comments to KDHE collected during this comment period (excluding comments from GPACE contacts that went directly to KDHE).
A little context for those comments:
- During the 2007 permitting process for the Holcomb project, a total of approximately 780 comments (written and verbal) were received by KDHE.
- Around 40% of the comments GPACE forwarded to KDHE came from individual Kansans outside our network of contacts.
- All of the comments forwarded by GPACE were unique – they were not form letters or pre-printed postcards from out-of-state organizations.
- Prior to the public hearings (and prior to the comments submitted by GPACE) KDHE had already received over 2,000 public comments on the draft permit. By close of the final public hearing in October 2010, KDHE had received over 5,000 public comments on the draft permit.
GPACE conducted significant specific project efforts and expenditures to solicit, inform, and coordinate public comments on the permit, including:
- Postcard mailings
- Direct phone calls
- Emails/newsletters
- Website
- Submit-a-comment link page
- Health, environmental, economic impact information and talking points
- Relevant news stories and blog entries
- ReThinkCoalRePowerKansas.com Timeline
- Clean Energy Mixers in Lawrence and Overland Park featuring Leslie Glustrom of Clean Energy Action, an expert on PRB coal supply issues
- Multiple public presentations, including: Topeka Chapter of The Sierra Club, Kansas City Green Drinks Chapter, Partnership event with The Resilience Group in Salina, Various student events and groups
- Sponsorship of “Dirty Business” film screenings and informational meetings
KDHE suffered a significant computer system problem during August which, in addition to the many other challenges for the agency, impacted receipt and recognition of valid public comments submitted via email regarding the Sunflower Electric coal plant draft permit prior to the August 15th deadline. GPACE corresponded with KDHE and arranged for the agency to accept those valid comments.
Due to the submission of incorrect emissions modeling data by Sunflower Electric for a portion of the original draft permit, KDHE announced a second round of public comments on the Holcomb coal plant draft permit, scheduled once the corrected modeling data was submitted to KDHE. That second comment period opened on September 23rd and concluded on October 23rd, with a fourth public hearing on October 25th at the Topeka Capitol Plaza Hotel and Conference Center (comments submitted at that final hearing were included in the public record). Prior to the re-opened comment period, KDHE had publicly stated that the second public comment period would last 45 days. However, as a result of political pressure applied by Sunflower Electric, pro-coal legislators, and the Office of the Governor (according to details from a leaked Sunflower Electric email, as reported by AP), the comment period was shortened to 30 days in an attempt to rush the permit and avoid the EPA GHG stationary source guidelines.
During this second comment period the entire draft permit was open for review – as opposed to only the corrected modeling data as requested by project supporters. GPACE submitted significant written comments on the draft permit prior to October 23rd, including 35 pages of primary narrative supplemented with over 170 pages of technical material (resulting from work with Cardinal Engineering), in addition to oral comments at the final public hearing on October 25th. Throughout the entire permit process, GPACE also sent multiple official correspondences to KDHE and EPA related to matters of concern regarding the process.
Political Pressure Yields a Permit
On November 2nd, Governor Parkinson abruptly fired KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby, and attempted to bury the action amidst election media coverage. However, news reporters obtained the information and the story soon made national headlines. The action was seen and reported for what it was – an overt political maneuver to guarantee approval of Sunflower Electric’s pending draft permit prior to the end of the year and EPA GHG stationary source emissions requirements.
On December 16th, KDHE (under acting Secretary Mitchell) granted Sunflower’s permit application for the proposed Holcomb coal plant. GPACE was instrumental in the public and advocacy opposition response to this action, and to media analysis of the KDHE decision and it’s implications.
Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association
In addition to work on the KDHE/Sunflower permitting process for the Holcomb 2 coal plant, GPACE participated in the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s public resource planning process in Colorado.
Under the current arrangement, the Holcomb coal plant will be 80% owned by Tri-State Generation and Transmission, based in Colorado. So, 80% of the electricity produced by the plant will be owned by Tri-State. The electricity will not be sold by Sunflower in a free-market context, and as such, it will not be an export product ‘like wheat or beef’, as has been claimed by pro-coal advocates. There is no sale and no “export” involved. The plant itself will be phased for the western grid, not for the eastern grid (which serves Kansas). So the power will have to be converted before it can be used in Kansas, but not so for Colorado. The plant is a coal plant for Colorado.
Neither Sunflower nor Tri-State can demonstrate any real need for the electricity the plant will produce. Sunflower reports on its own to the KCC and shows no gap between demand and capacity for at least eight years, and then only a tiny fraction of the plant’s capacity. Tri-State’s recently concluded resource planning process modeled around two dozen scenarios, and only one showed any possible need for coal baseload – only 300MW, by 2027, with no demand side EE management, and after the construction of two natural gas plants.
GPACE participated in planning meetings prior to, and then attended and submitted public comment at a meeting on Wednesday, May 19th at Tri-State headquarters in Westminster, Colorado. Our comments were accompanied by a few basic PowerPoint slides. The meeting was one in a series of public meetings required by Tri-State as part of a settlement agreement allowing Tri-State to avert potential regulatory oversight by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The public process was conducted during 2010 and GPACE participated (in person or by phone/internet) in a number of these public meetings, and provided reports from them to the Kansas public. Tri-State submitted its resource plan (IRP) to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in late November without ever responding to a single comment or question from GPACE.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission reviews the Tri-State IRP, and GPACE submitted public comment on that plan, in coordination with other public commenters from Colorado and Kansas.
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