Healy Clean Coal Plant Remains Idle
4/10/02 Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation denies Administrative Revision of Golden Valley's Air Emissions permit. The DEC Permit denial complicates GVEA's plan for a complete retrofit of Healy 2. An administrative revision of the permit would have allowed complete retrofit with standard low NOx burners to proceed with no further analysis of air quality impacts. Now, DEC has invited GVEA to submit another permit request that would involve a broader analysis of best available technologies.

4/14/02 AIDEA Chief says Healy Clean Coal Plant can function with a limited retrofit. Bob Poe, CEO of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), appeared before a crowded Denali Borough Assembly meeting on April 14, 2002. AIDEA now owns and spends $9 million per year to maintain Healy 2, a unique clean coal plant built with federal Clean Air funds, state money and loans from AIDEA. Mr. Poe argued that Healy 2 could be functional with a less expensive, limited retrofit that would cost between $9 and $32 million. This retrofit, unlike the complete retrofit to low NOx burners proposed by GVEA, would, according to Mr. Poe, retain the Clean Coal technology and simply fix certain operational problems with the plant. Representatives of Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) were also present at the meeting, and continued to argue for a complete retrofit.

4/18/02 US Senate includes a tentative appropriation for complete retrofit of Healy 2 in the energy bill currently under debate in Washington, DC. If the energy bill passes, this money will become available. The availability of money for a complete retrofit will not exempt GVEA from DEC permitting obligations (see above).

Links to articles from the Alaska Journal of Commerce:
May, 2002: Agency, Utility debate plants future
July, 2002: Funding Agencies Dismayed by shutdown of Power Plant
Sept, 2002: Healy Energy Project team splits