Oglethorpe Power to reduce use of Talbot County generator

ATLANTA - Oglethorpe Power Corp. has agreed to reduce the number of hours it will operate a proposed electric-generating plant northeast of Columbus under an agreement struck Tuesday with residents who challenged the plant&#39;s permit. <br> <br> Oglethorpe, a cooperative that supplies power to 39 electric member corporations, agreed to operate the six-turbine plant near Box Springs for 23,400 hours annually, about 11 percent fewer than allowed in the permit the Environmental Protection Division granted in August. <br> <br> The Tucker-based cooperative also agreed to burn diesel fuel only 900 hours per year, with only 200 hours during the summer smog season. The plant is near the intersection of Harris, Muscogee and Talbot counties. <br> <br> The agreement came on the second day of a trial before an administrative law judge for an appeal filed by the Georgia Public Interest Research Group and Concerned Citizens of Harris County Inc. <br> <br> ``We were really pleased. Really happy,&#39;&#39; said Dottie Lange, president of the Harris County group. But she added, ``It&#39;s a crime that ordinary people have to go before the EPD and the power companies to get a reduction in pollution. It should be the state&#39;s job.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The ``minimal&#39;&#39; reduction will have no effect on emissions or air quality from the plant, said Jimmy Johnston, program manager of permitting for the EPD&#39;s air protection branch. <br> <br> ``Our permit is valid and we always have contended that,&#39;&#39; Johnston said. ``There is nothing in regard to the settlement that indicates the permit was improper. It has no reflection on the permit.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Johnston also said the agency had discussed use reductions with Oglethorpe before the Harris County group appealed the permit and that the plant was likely to operate less than its permit allowed. <br> <br> ``Georgia PIRG did not get any real reductions out of the settlement,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Robert Ukeiley, an attorney for the Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest, which filed the appeal, said the settlement shows the EPD has been overly lax in its permitting of generation plants. <br> <br> ``EPD isn&#39;t issuing stringent enough permits. In some cases, they shouldn&#39;t issue a permit at all,&#39;&#39; Ukeiley said. ``I hope the management at EPD takes notice and starts being more careful and considerate when they issue their permits.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Four units at the 650-megawatt Talbot plant will go online in June, with the other two operational a year later. The ``peak plant&#39;&#39; will be used only during times of heavy demand to supplement output from other plants. <br> <br> The Sierra Club has two similar appeals for proposed plants in Augusta and Sandersville.

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