The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Energy Department on Friday issued a directive that will allow the Mirant Power Station in Alexandria to increase production by running more than two power generators at the same time.
The facility must meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards if it is to run more than the two generators it currently uses to produce energy, said company spokeswoman Corry Leigh.
“What we can do is operate the plant under conditions as long as we … stay within the [national] standards,” she said.
Mirant has been not been allowed to run more than two generators since the EPA determined in August that doing so under worse-case scenario weather conditions would violate the air standards. These standards are designed to protect the public from pollutants that are deemed harmful to people’s health.
Mirant has been in discussions since then with the EPA on how to get the 482-megawatt capacity coal-burning plant back online, allowing it to produce more power.
Under the new agreement, Mirant will use day-to-day weather predictions to determine how many generators can be run without violating the air quality standards. In past studies, worst-case weather scenarios were used to determine whether Mirant would violate the standards.
“We’re not going to use the worst case scenario, we’re going to use the forecasted weather,” Leigh said.
Opposition to the plant from the City of Alexandria and residents is strong. The original study into air quality was prompted by complaints from residents, and the city has opposed operating more than two generators at the plant.
Last month, Mirant entered into an agreement with the federal government, Maryland and Virginia that would allow the company to dump more nitrous oxide emissions into Alexandria’s air each summer in exchange for lowered regional emissions. The company will spend more than $130 million at its three Maryland power plants to lower harmful outputs.
Alexandria said it would appeal this agreement.
