Plans to Remodel Old Power Plant Get Boost

Plans to remodel the aging power plant looming over the tiny coastal city of Morro Bay advanced last week when state researchers said new units could be built without damaging local Indian remains.

Duke Energy wants to replace its Morro Bay facility, a local landmark--or eyesore, depending on your perspective--with more efficient technology. The plant, which began operating in 1955, can produce up to 1,002 megawatts at a given moment, enough for about 1 million homes.

Although the remodeling was proposed before the energy crisis this past summer, Duke officials contend that it will boost the state’s energy grid because it will produce 200 megawatts more than the old plant.

The remodeled facility will continue to be powered by natural gas.

The original schedule said a final decision to allow construction would be made this month, but delays have pushed it back to next spring or summer. Nonetheless, a Duke official said the company is pleased with the progress so far.

“It’s a huge step to get to this point,” said spokesman Tom Mullen.

Previously, the staff of the California Energy Commission agreed with Duke’s contention that the new plant would not exceed standards for air pollution. Last week, the commission released a 148-page analysis stating that the plant would not harm ground water or damage Native American archeological sites.

Research has shown that people inhabited the area as far back as 8,500 years ago. Both Chumash and Salinan people were present, and human remains have been found at two spots on the 107-acre plant property. At least one village existed nearby.

The commission noted that there has been “considerable concern in the Native American community regarding ground disturbance in the project area.” The commission said those worries can be addressed by authorizing Native Americans to be present in an advisory capacity during demolition and construction of the new plant.

What is likely to be the most contentious element of the project has not yet been fully addressed, however. That is the question of cooling the plant. Currently, the Morro Bay plant uses about 475 million gallons of water each day, which it withdraws from the Morro Bay estuary.

The 3.3-square-mile body of water has been classified as an important waterway by the state and federal governments. Mullen said the new plant will use less water. The Energy Commission staff does not agree.

The new plant “will use slightly greater amounts of water than the existing plant,” according to the analysis.

This is important, according to Jack McCurdy, who represents a local environmental group called the Coastal Alliance on Plant Expansion, because thousands of fish and other forms of sea life are sucked in with the plant’s cooling water each day.

McCurdy and other environmentalists are pushing for “dry cooling,” a process that blows air over water to cool the plant. Less water is used than under the current system because it is recycled.

Mullen disputes the damage cited by McCurdy. “The science shows there hasn’t been any negative impacts to the [fish] population levels” in the bay, Mullen said. Fish larvae are the only sea life being affected by the plant, he said, because screens over the intake system prevent anything larger than 3/8-inch from being drawn in.

The state Coastal Commission has also asked that dry cooling be considered. Mullen said it would cost $39 million just to install dry-cooling equipment.

McCurdy fears the state may agree the cost is too high for the potential benefits when it addresses the cooling issue in its next report, due out in January.

But Mullen said other effects of dry cooling may be even more problematic. The utility would have to build two 500-foot-long, 100-foot-wide, 90-foot-tall structures to house the equipment.

“They would have to sit on the waterfront,” said Mullen, in full view of the tourists who throng the seaside town in summer. Also, the blower fans would be noisy.

Finally, it would take more than 100 megawatts just to run the system. Cost aside, said Mullen, “The issue is: Does it make sense?”