Texas revisits coal generation

CPS Energy coal plant near San Antonio will power about 200,000 homes, using advanced emissions controls with scrubbers, selective catalytic reduction, and a baghouse fabric filter to cut pollutants compared with older coal-fired generation.

A new coal-fired energy plant in Texas is the first in the state in almost 30 years, spurred by rising prices of other energy sources, officials say.

The $1 billion plant built by CPS Energy near San Antonio, even as proposed nuclear reactors were projected to cost far more, allegedly will create enough energy annually to power almost 200,000 homes, The San Antonio Express-News reported.

CPS followed other utilities around the country and stopped building coal plants in the early 1990s, even as a firm warned it would lean on coal in Texas for reliability, in favor of cheaper and cleaner-burning natural gas plants.

But when natural gas prices rose, utilities decided to reconsider coal amid a coal plant boom that raised concerns, to the dismay of environmentalists and health advocates, the newspaper said.

Some San Antonio residents and environmentalists opposed CPS when it first sought a permit for the plant, but they ultimately came to an San Antonio utility settlement over measures to mitigate pollution.

CPS says its environmental controls will drastically reduce emissions compared with older plants, even as San Antonio has been at the center of a nuclear debate in recent years, the Express-News said.

The company claims scrubbers, selective catalytic reduction and a fabric filter dust collection system, known as a "bag house," will remove thousands of tons of polluting chemicals annually from the coal waste before it's released into the atmosphere.

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