News Release
12.09.08
Luminant Announces Agreement with Sierra Club and Public CitizenDALLAS, TX -
Luminant today announced that it has collaborated with Sierra Club and Public Citizen to reach an innovative agreement. This new agreement provides for an additional regulatory review of environmental controls at Luminant's Oak Grove power plant and provides for Luminant to offset any emissions above the final levels set in that regulatory review. In return, the environmental and consumer groups have agreed to forego legal opposition to the construction and operation of the Oak Grove facility, although they may participate in the additional regulatory review.
“This agreement gives us greater legal and regulatory certainty as we complete the Oak Grove generating station, which will help meet growing Texas electricity demand,” said Luminant general counsel Bill Moore. “We're confident that our state-of-the art emissions control technology will continue to meet or exceed all regulatory requirements, reflecting our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship,” added Moore.
“Luminant is doing as much as or more than any other company in the nation to voluntarily cut mercury emissions from our coal-fueled power plants. Across our fleet, we are adding new emission control technologies costing more than $1 billion,” said Moore.
The Sierra Club and Public Citizen previously announced their intention to file a lawsuit to force a regulatory determination regarding certain emission limits set by previous permits for Luminant's Oak Grove plant. Under this agreement, Luminant has agreed to secure a separate regulatory determination that the Oak Grove power plant is using “maximum achievable control technology” (known as “MACT”) to control certain emissions, including mercury.
Luminant is currently installing sorbent injection systems at the Oak Grove plant that will use activated carbon to control mercury emissions. This is in addition to significant other emission controls, such as selective catalytic reduction systems for nitrogen oxide reduction and scrubbers for sulfur dioxide reduction.
Luminant will file an application with the TCEQ seeking a MACT determination for Oak Grove Units 1 and 2 later this week.
About Luminant
Luminant, a subsidiary of Energy Future Holdings Corp. (EFH), is a competitive power generation business, including mining, wholesale marketing and trading, construction and development operations. Luminant has over 18,300 megawatts of generation in Texas, including 2,300 megawatts of nuclear and 5,800 megawatts of coal-fueled generation capacity, and is building an additional 2,200 MW of coal-fueled generation capacity. Luminant is also the largest purchaser of wind-generated electricity in Texas and fifth largest in the United States. EFH is a Dallas-based energy holding company that has a portfolio of competitive and regulated energy subsidiaries, primarily in Texas. Visit www.luminant.com or www.energyfutureholdings.com for additional information.
Additional Document(s): MACT Application
Media
Allan Koenig
214-875-8651
Allan.Koenig@luminant.com
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