Gascoyne 500 Project

This project replaced the earlier Gascoyne 175 project; the air permits for Gascoyne 175 expired in August 2007. The North Dakota Health Department issued a draft air permit for this plant in May 2007. In June 2007, the North Dakota Industrial Commission announced that the project continues to be eligible for up to $10 million in state aid.

In July, the U.S. Department of the Interior expressed concerns with the prospect of a 500-megawatt (MW) coal plant within the Class I airflow of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. In August 2007, Westmoreland submitted a letter of intent to the Public Service Commission. The final air permit for the project is scheduled to be issued in early 2008.

In May, 2007, co-sponsor Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., dropped out of the project in order to concentrate on Big Stone II.

In May, 2008, Westmoreland Power announced that it was suspending development on the plant and returning $562,500 in state state subsidies for the project. The company cited lack of a customer for the power and uncertainty over carbon regulation. Company spokesman Keith Alessi wrote to the N.D. Industrial Commission: "There is much uncertainty in the utility sector on when future carbon regulation will come into effect. This has slowed the development of coal-fired power plants. ... At this time (we) cannot predict when a long-term customer (for the plant's electricity) can be found and the actual plant construction could commence."

Project Details
Sponsor: Westmoreland Power Location: Gascoyne, ND Type: Circulating fluidized bed Capacity: 500 MW Status: Cancelled

Citizen Groups

 * Dakota Resource Council, Cindy Klein, cindy [at] drcinfo.com
 * North Dakota Sierra Club, Wayde Schafer, wayde.schafer [at] sierraclub.org

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Gascoyne 175 Project
 * North Dakota and coal
 * United States and coal
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2007
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)