MIRANT MID-ATLANTIC will spend about $800 million and require about 900 additional workers over three years installing wet-scrubbers to bring sulfur dioxide emission levels at its Morgantown power plant in Charles County and nearby Chalk Point station in Prince George’s County down to Maryland’s Healthy Air Act (HAA) standards, according to the division’s Manager of External Affairs, Misty Allen. 

In addition to the enormous cost of the project, Mirant will also lose efficiency at both plants due to the 12 megawatts of power each scrubber will consume in operation.  The higher a plant’s efficiency, the lower the price of the energy it produces.  A loss of efficiency means an increase in the price of energy sold to power companies and ultimately consumers.

Before a tour of the Morgantown facility for local lawmakers, Allen also took the opportunity to explain some of Mirant’s considerations while planning Morgantown’s HAA upgrades.  She said that Mirant didn’t simply look for the cheapest way to bring the plant’s emissions into compliance with the HAA’s minimum standards. 

Instead, the company looked ahead and prepared to spend the money necessary for a scrubber system that would bring the plants’ emissions in line with the HAA’s more strict 2013 standards, even though they are only now required to comply with the 2010 standards. 

“We have chosen the most capital-intensive option to get us to 2013 [standards],” said Allen.

The Charles County Board of commissioners spent Tuesday morning touring Mirant Mid-Atlantic’s Morgantown Power Generating Station with other County employees and La Plata town officials.  According to Allen, Mirant invited the County and La Plata officials to learn about the plant in preparation for their combined efforts on the upcoming effluent pipeline project.

“Mirant, as part of its government relations, frequently invites its local and state representatives to the plant,” Allen told The Bay Net.  “[It’s] a great opportunity for them to get an insider’s view of our operations and to discuss issues facing us, Mirant and the industry.”

During the pre-tour briefing by Allen and plant manager Hula Edmonds, the county commissioners asked pertinent questions about the effect the wet-scrubber project will have on county traffic, employment, scenery and water supply.  In recent weeks, the commissioners have taken criticism from their constituents who thought the Board should have hosted the project’s hearing with the state’s Public Services Commission, as was the Board’s legal right.  Critics felt those types of questions should have been asked before the PSC approved Mirant’s wet-scrubber projects in August.

The commissioners were also interested in the number of jobs the project will bring to the area.  Allen explained that an industry contractor,

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