Published: June 11, 2008 10:45 pm      

ERIE COUNTY NOTEBOOK: Clean coal on the move, but not in Tonawanda

Gov. David Paterson is throwing his support behind clean coal-generated power, but not at the Town of Tonawanda’s NRG Huntley plant.

Paterson announced more than $6 million in funding for research and engineering work on a proposed power plant in Jamestown Tuesday.

Even though the Huntley project will require much more funding than the Jamestown facility, which will be less than one-tenth the size of the proposed NRG plant, the governor’s move shows that he supports the development of clean coal technology, said Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-Kenmore.

“I think this is certainly good for Western New York and even good for the Huntley project,” Schimminger said. “This shows that the governor is not totally averse to clean coal projects.”

Erie County Legislator Michele Iannello, D-Kenmore, represents the area where the Huntley plant would go in and said she also views the news as a positive indication that New York is ready to get behind clean coal technologies.

“I’m just hoping this means some support for Huntley will also be coming in the near future,” Iannello said.

In his comments Tuesday, Paterson said he hopes the state’s investment in Jamestown will help make New York a leader in developing a way to produce electricity with coal while creating less pollution.

Although the technology used in Jamestown will be somewhat different than that planned for Huntley, the development will still provide the state with practical experience constructing clean coal plants. The Jamestown project has drawn fire from environmentalists who want to see scarce state dollars spent to promote renewable energy and are unsure the sequestration technology will work as predicted. Paterson jumped on that invocation of the weak economy and tough budget times to illustrate his point, that the Jamestown project will be a productive use of state money if the technology prove to be successful.

That success could go a long way to help NRG make the case for its $2 billion project.

But NRG has a lot of catching up to do. The issue for the Huntley project is reducing costs of the new carbon sequestration technology. NRG representatives have stated that the price gap is $400 million, or 20 percent of the total price tag, and the state won’t give the project the green light until the company finds a way to make the energy the plant will produce more competitively priced.

The memorandum of understanding that former Gov. George Pataki entered into with NRG in December 2006 requires the cost problems to be solved before July. Ideas to take the 20 year MOU up 30 years or use the New York Power Authority’s bond rating to secure a better rate for NRG have been circulated, but NRG is still working with the state, NYPA and the Department of Environmental Conservation to make the technology work.

As of Wednesday, Schimminger said he had heard nothing new on the NRG front.

“The pathways are very different,” Schimminger said of the two plants. “NRG’s facility becomes viable if the state agrees to purchase a large amount of power from them.”

Contact reporter Daniel Pyeat 693-1000, ext. 158.