Senator Feinstein and Representative Hunter urge Department of Energy to Enforce Commitment by Intergen on Mexican Power Plant
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Representative Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) today called on the Department of Energy to enforce the commitment made by InterGen to install pollution control technology on turbines exporting power from Mexicali, Mexico to the California market.
In a letter to Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Feinstein and Hunter wrote: " We are writing to ask that you take immediate action to enforce the commitment made by InterGen to install pollution control technology on the turbines exporting power from Mexicali, Mexico to the California market. For your information, we have attached our past letters to InterGen about the plant in Mexicali, Mexico.
It was always our understanding, as well as the understanding of your staff as indicated by the Department's 2001 Environmental Assessment, that InterGen's La Rosita energy facility's two turbines serving the California market would be outfitted with Selective Catalytic Reduction Technology prior to becoming operational.
Now, at least seven months after the two turbines became operational, we have learned that one of the turbines has been operational since July 2003 without the Selective Catalytic Reduction Technology. Further, it is our understanding that there are no plans to install the technology until the end of March 2004.
It appears that InterGen did not act in good faith and misled both of us and your Department by stating that the promised technology would be installed before the export turbines came online. As the Department issued a Presidential permit to InterGen for this facility based upon the understanding that the two turbines serving California would meet California's air quality standards prior to coming online, we ask that you take immediate action to compel InterGen to follow through on its commitments.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to hearing from you before Congress reconvenes."