City officials oppose AES Corp. expansion

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The city will meet with officials from AES Corp.

early next month to review an expansion plan that could bring two unused

electricity generators online by summer.

The move comes after the City Council decided at a Dec. 18 meeting to

oppose the power plant expansion unless AES officials promised to address

concerns over the facility’s appearance, possibility as a beach

contamination source, safe use of the chemical ammonia and the amount of

nitrogen oxide produced by its generators.

“I think the lines of cooperation are open between ourselves and the

city,” said Ed Blackford, site manager and president of the AES power

plant in Huntington Beach. “We’ve set plans to meet sometime after the

holidays, though the date hasn’t been finalized yet.”

AES’ plan is to retool units 3 and 4 at their 21730 Newland St. site.

Those units were shut down in 1995, but would allow the power plant to

generate about 450 more megawatts of electricity at a time when the state

is facing an energy crunch.

Blackford and city officials said AES is discussing the expansion with

the California Energy Commission, a state agency in charge of licensing

and siting, which plans to visit the power plant in February before

approving the project. That approval would supersede the concerns of the

city.

City officials stressed their desire to be included in talks between

AES and the energy commission last week, adding their primary concerns

over the plant expansion revolve around air pollution from nitrogen oxide

emissions, which the plant expels as it produces energy.

Last year the plant produced about 450 tons of the gas pollutant from

its two active generators, and the city’s Planning Commission approved a

plan Dec. 12 to install equipment in those generators that use ammonia in

an effort to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by about 90%.The plant also

pumps hot water used for cooling purposes into the ocean, which some

critics believe may draw in runoff from the Orange County Sanitation

District’s pipeline five miles offshore.

“Whatever we have to do to make [AES] lift one small finger to make

their site look nicer, we should do it,” said Councilman Ralph Bauer,

adding that the power plant hasn’t been a good neighbor.

AES officials said the concerns of the City Council are valid ones.

“No one wants a power plant in their backyard, but there are positive

benefits to outweigh the negative ones,” Blackford said. “This isn’t any

sort of power play ... we hope this project is good for California and by

association Huntington Beach.”