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EKPC to add $324 million to help control pollution

December 04, 2008

BURNSIDE, Ky.- East Kentucky Power Cooperative has announced plans to invest nearly $324 million in its John Sherman Cooper Station in Pulaski County.

The cooperative plans to install pollution-reduction equipment to ensure environmental compliance and the future of the plant.

"East Kentucky Power Cooperative provides power to more than 1 million Kentuckians, and Cooper Station is critical to making that happen," said Robert Marshall, president and CEO of EKPC. "This will be an investment in the long-term viability of Cooper Station and in the environmental well-being of Kentucky."

Cooper Station began operation in 1965. It features two generating units capable of producing enough electricity to power the homes in about 35 cities the size of Somerset.

The planned new facilities include a flue-gas desulfurization unit, or "scrubber," on Cooper Unit 2. Scrubbers remove sulfur from the emissions of coal-fueled power plants.

In addition, EKPC plans to add a selective catalytic reduction device and pulse jet fabric filter to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter from Cooper Unit 2.

EKPC plans to begin constructing the facilities in spring 2010 and begin operating them two years later. Construction of the facilities is expected to require up to 400 construction workers, and create seven to 10 permanent jobs at the plant.

Once the new facilities are in operation, officials say they will significantly reduce plant emissions, including:

- 95 percent removal of sulfur dioxide;

- 80 percent removal of nitrogen oxide; and

- 75 percent removal of particulate matter.

The project is the result of a consent agreement finalized in 2007 between EKPC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Kentucky Public Service Commission the Kentucky Division of Air Quality must review and approve EKPC's plans to add and operate the new equipment.

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