HB 791, placing a two-year moratorium on development of new coal-fired power plants in Idaho, just passed the Senate on a 30-5 vote – but the project that prompted the moratorium is off. Lobbyist Roy Eiguren distributed copies of a letter today from Sempra Generation to the governor, in which the San Diego, Calif. firm said it’s decided to sell the development rights to the coal plant it had proposed in Jerome County. In the letter, Sempra president Michael Niggli said the Jerome County site “offers prospective owners excellent access to rail, existing transmission, land and water rights.”
But the proposal had raised huge opposition – particularly because it would have used Idaho water and created Idaho pollution in order to generate power for use elsewhere. The two-year moratorium bill, which now goes to the governor, was sponsored by a bipartisan group of six lawmakers, including House Speaker Bruce Newcomb.
Betsy Z. Russell covers Idaho news from The Spokesman-Review's bureau in Boise.
Named best state-based political blog in Idaho for 2013 by The Fix
999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201
P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210
Main switchboard: (509) 459-5000 • (800) 338-8801
Newsroom: (509) 459-5400 • (800) 789-0029
Customer service: (800) 338-8801
© Copyright 2013, The Spokesman-Review
Terms of use • Privacy policy • Copyright policy
Spokane7
52°
Get blog updates by email
Please keep it civil. Don't post comments that are obscene, defamatory, threatening, off-topic, an infringement of copyright or an invasion of privacy. Read our forum standards and community guidelines.
You must be logged in to post comments. Please log in here or click the comment box below for options.
comments powered by Disqus« Back to Eye On Boise