Sunflower's coal plant wilting?

Economic and environmental complications are forcing reconsideration by an investor utility of a coal plant project in western Kansas that has been blocked several years by political obstacles in Topeka.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp. has been fighting for state approval of a 1,400-megawatt coal-fired plant in Holcomb, which would be built with the financial backing of utility partners in Colorado and Texas. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment denied Sunflower a permit in 2007, and the Legislature has so far failed to override objections to the project by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Now, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in Colorado is making it clear the weakened economy and likely adoption of new federal regulation of carbon emissions is triggering a move to find more immediate alternatives to coal.

Topeka Capital-Journal