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Wyoming Supreme Courts affirm air permit for Dry Fork Station

Cheyenne, Wyo. - The Wyoming Supreme Court has affirmed the issuance of an air permit for construction of the Dry Fork Station north of Gillette, Wyo.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative - March 7, 2010

Cheyenne, Wyo. - The Wyoming Supreme Court has affirmed the issuance of an air permit for construction of the Dry Fork Station north of Gillette, Wyo.

In a unanimous decision, the Court said "We affirm the Council's decision that the DEQ properly issued an air quality permit to Basin Electric for the Dry Fork Station." This follows almost three years of legal efforts by environmental groups to halt construction of the $1.3-billion coal-based power plant.

Deborah Levchak, staff counsel for Basin Electric, said the decision is good news for the project. "We sincerely appreciate the efforts and hard work of the Department of Environmental Quality in evaluating the data submitted before issuing the air permit." The permit application was submitted to the DEQ on November 10, 2005. The permit was issued on October 15, 2007. Construction on the Dry Fork Station began shortly after the permit was issued.

After the air permit was issued, several environmental groups including the Wyoming Outdoor Council, the Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Sierra Club appealed to the Environmental Quality Council challenging the DEQ's issuance of the permit. At hearings held by the EQC in May and September 2008, it was determined what issues should be considered during a formal hearing that was scheduled for November 2008. Subsequently, it was decided by the appellants to bypass the EQC November hearing and have the issues certified directly to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Construction on the Dry Fork Station is about 75 percent complete. When it becomes operational in mid-2011, it will have about $334 million of environmental controls installed.

About Basin Electric Power Cooperative

Basin Electric is a consumer-owned, regional cooperative headquartered in Bismarck, N.D. It generates and transmits electricity to 135 member rural electric systems in nine states: Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. These member systems distribute electricity to about 2.8 million consumers.

Basin Electric's generating resources include: two coal-based power plants in North Dakota - the Antelope Valley Station, Beulah, and the Leland Olds Station, Stantonl; a coal-based power plant in Wyoming - the Laramie River Station, Wheatland; three peaking stations - the Spirit Mound Station, Vermillion, S.D.; the Groton Generation Station Groton, S.D., and the Wisdom Unit 2 Station, Spencer, Iowa; nine combustion-turbine generators (natural gas) in the Gillette, Wyo., area; four wind turbines - two near Minot, N.D., and two near Chamberlain, S.D.; and 80 wind turbines near Minot, N.D. (2010). Basin Electric is also the sole purchaser of electricity from sources operated by others including: six baseload waste-heat stations owned and operated by Ormat Technologies Inc. along the Northern Border Pipeline; the output of three wind farms owned and operated by NextEra Energy Resources, Juno Beach, Fla. (These wind farms are located near Wilton and Edgeley/Kulm, N.D.; the other is near Highmore, S.D.) Basin Electric has long-term, purchase power agreements of varying capacities from the George Neal Station Unit 4 (coal-based), Sioux City, Iowa, operated by MidAmerican Energy; the Walter Scott, Jr. Energy Center (coal-based) units 3 and 4, Council Bluffs, Iowa, operated by MidAmerican Energy; the Wisdom Station (coal based), Spencer, Iowa, operated by Corn Belt Power Cooperative; peaking stations located in Spencer, Estherville, Pocahontas, and Webster City, Iowa; the Duane Arnold Energy Center (nuclear), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, operated by NextEra Energy Resources; the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska; and three Iowa wind farms - near Superior/Lakota, operated by Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative; in Hancock County operated by NextEra Energy Resources and in Palo Alto County operated by Crosswind Energy, LLC. For more information, go to www.basinelectric.com.

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