A spark of hope

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- After much debate, City Council members gave

reluctant support to a proposed Assembly bill that would allow the local

power company AES Corp. to start improvements at its Pacific Coast

Highway plant that could help ease the state’s energy crisis.

Council members initially opposed the bill, but conceded that with the

energy crisis so apparent in California, the measure would most likely be

passed by state officials.

“I would tend to believe that we don’t have a lot of strength in this

area,” said Councilman Dave Garofalo on the city’s jurisdiction over the

power plant.

But, he added, he would like to be assured that the power generated at

the plant would stay in California, and that environmental concerns be

addressed.

As a result of deregulation, California is experiencing an energy

shortage that has resulted in power cutoffs throughout the state.

AES officials plan to refurbish power generating units 3 and 4, which

were shut down by previous plant owner Southern California Edison Co. in

1995. The plant’s two operational units produce about 430 megawatts of

electricity. A third smaller generator produces 133 megawatts, but has

recently been offline for repairs.

One megawatt is enough energy to power 1,000 homes, and retrofitting

the two inactive generators would raise the energy output of the power

plant by 450 megawatts, plant officials said.

Ed Blackford, president and site manager of the AES plant in

Huntington Beach, stressed the importance of the new power generators to

the state’s current energy needs. The energy from units 3 and 4, once

they’re online, he said, could lessen the state’s projected energy

shortfall this summer by about 15%.

“It’s not a solution for all of the problem, but certainly a

significant portion of it,” Blackford said of activating the generators.

“One of my main concerns with this bill is that it allows AES to

commence construction before it has been certified” to operate the

additional units by the state energy commission, said Councilwoman Connie

Boardman. “Why even have a certification process in the first place?”

The California Energy Commission put off a decision on the power plant

retrofit Wednesday until a Feb. 7 meeting, citing a need for more

information on the project, said Mary Ann Costamagna, a spokeswoman for

the commission.

Other council concerns swirled around the possible effects of a larger

power plant on both air and water quality in the immediate area.

In recent years, the plant has typically produced about 450 tons of

the gas pollutant nitrogen oxide annually while generating power.

Blackford said the plant will install scrubbers on its operational

generators to cut its noxious emissions by 90% or 80% if units 3 and 4

are also brought to bear with the emission-reducing measures.

Last month, the city’s Planning Commission approved the use of the

emission scrubbers, though the proposal has been appealed to the City

Council and is scheduled to be addressed in February.

Boardman and other council members were also concerned about an

ongoing study to determine whether AES is partially responsible for beach

closures caused by bacteria in 1999.

The power plant uses cold ocean water for cooling purposes, and then

pumps up to 88,000 gallons of hot water back into the sea each minute.

With units 3 and 4 also generating electricity, that water output could

double.

Meanwhile, the Orange County Sanitation District is studying whether

AES’ hot water is interacting with the district’s waste water plume from

an effluent outfall pipe 4.5 miles offshore, drawing the partially

treated sewage back toward the shore.

“That’s certainly a concern,” Blackford said, adding that AES has been

assisting the sanitation district in the study to determine whether the

interaction theory is correct. “We need to get to the bottom of this, one

way or another.”

Although the council ultimately supported the proposed bill, it also

drew up a list of concerns to forward to Assemblyman Tom Harman

(R-Huntington Beach).

Among them, the city needs any AES expansion to comply with federal

state and local environmental standards, assurance that local laws or the

California Environmental Quality Act would not be preempted by

legislation and that energy generated at the power plant be sold in

California.

Council members also added a letter reminding Harman that the city

chose to oppose the plant expansion unless AES officials took steps to

beautify the area, address water and air contamination concerns, and work

with air quality and coastal authorities as the project moves forward.