Senators override coal veto

     Senators overrode Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ veto Wednesday of a bill allowing two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas, but efforts by the House to follow suit stalled and it adjourned without taking a vote.
    The proposed deal offered a share of the new power to Kansas utilities not involved in the plants’ construction. Backers quickly drafted a trailer bill and planned to run it in the Senate before trying to nullify Sebelius’ veto in the House.
    But the Senate action slowed on the bill, and by 6 p.m. the House decided to call it a day and try the override effort on Thursday.
    “The trailer in the Senate was written wrong. We decided not wait any longer,” said House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican.
    Asked if the delay could cost votes for the override, Merrick said, “We might win some; we might lose some. It depends on who twists arms best.”
    The Senate’s vote to override was 32-7, giving supporters five votes more than the two-thirds majority necessary. Supporters always have had more than enough in the Senate but have remained at least one vote short in the House of the needed two-thirds, or 84 votes.
    Sunflower Electric Power Corp. wants to build two 700-megawatt plants outside Holcomb, in Finney County. The project has been blocked by Sebelius’ secretary of health and environment over their potential carbon dioxide emissions, because many scientists link such man-made greenhouse gases to global warming.
    “What keeps coming back is minor variations of the original proposal,” Sebelius said during a news conference. “It’s sort of the plan du jour to try and get a couple of legislators to flip their votes.”
    Sebelius has vetoed two bills to clear the way for the plants and reduce the secretary of health and environment’s power. Top Republican leaders offered the Democratic governor an alternative, making the plants 14 percent smaller than originally proposed.
    She called the GOP leaders’ plan an ultimatum because they said they would try to override her last veto if she rejected it. She met with the leaders Wednesday morning, then held her news conference an hour before lawmakers reconvened after their annual spring break.
    The governor has suggested allowing one plant, if Sunflower would commit to investing in new wind farms and starting programs that help its consumers conserve power. The utility rejected her plan, saying it’s unworkable.
    Sunflower’s project has bipartisan legislative support, partly because many lawmakers view it as economic development.
    “We are heading into a recession, and not having affordable energy exacerbates that,” said Sen. Karin Brownlee, an Olathe Republican. “It’s critical that we override this veto.”
    Last week, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, the governor’s top adviser on energy issues, told reporters the administration was considering options to continue blocking Sunflower’s project even if legislators overrode Sebelius’ veto. He wasn’t more specific.
    Sebelius said the only option her administration has discussed is the prospect of a third party — such as environmentalists — filing a lawsuit if legislators override the governor’s veto. Sebelius views a lawsuit as likely but said her administration would not be part of it.
    Anticipating legislative action, supporters and opponents came to the Statehouse to lobby. Dozens of opponents gathered outside the House, briefly forcing members to walk between them to get to the chamber.
    “We need to start factoring in concerns about climate change into decisions about our energy,” said opponent Brian Sifton, a University of Kansas senior from Kansas City, Mo.
    But pipe fitters Kirk Miller, of Havensville, and Mike Wolownik, of Frontenac, said they are concerned about CO2 but that Sunflower’s plants would use technology making them perhaps the cleanest in the nation.
    Sunflower estimates the cost for building the plants at $3.6 billion, but critics believe it could exceed $5 billion because of rising construction costs.
    The new generating capacity, 1,400 megawatts, would be enough to meet the peak demands of 700,000 households, according to one state estimate. Sunflower and a sister utility, Midwest Energy Inc., serve about 400,000 customers in 55 counties.
    Of the new capacity, 1,200 megawatts would go to two out-of-state partners helping Sunflower finance the plants. They are Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. of Westminster, Colo., and Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, in Amarillo, Texas.
    Sebelius acknowledged Sunflower probably couldn’t finance a single coal-fired plant dedicated to only Kansas customers on its own. But she said another utility could or that several utilities could collaborate.
    Earl Watkins Jr., Sunflower’s chief executive officer, said his company doesn’t intend to abandon its partners and that the governor’s plan “doesn’t meet our members’ needs or the participants who have been working with us all this time.”