Toquop Energy Project

Project Status
A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was released for public review and comment in October 2007. Five public meetings were held in November 2007 to receive comments on the Draft EIS. These meetings were attended by more than 420 people. In addition to the meetings, BLM received letters commenting on the EIS and the proposed project. The public comment period closed on December 11, 2007.

Since that time, the project team has reviewed public comments and completed appropriate revisions and updates to the EIS. A Final EIS has been prepared and will be released to the public in Summer 2009.

Project Background
In April 2003, the BLM Ely Field Office issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Toquop Energy Project, proposed by Toquop Energy, Inc.

The project analyzed in the 2003 EIS was a 1,100-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired electric power generation plant and associated facilities in Lincoln County in southern Nevada. Toquop Energy, Inc., proposed the project in order to generate electrical power at competitive costs for use by consumers and to meet the needs of forecasted electric load growth.

Since that time, natural gas prices have increased substantially. It is anticipated that they will remain unpredictable and could increase due to higher exploration and development costs. Sithe Global Power, LLC (Sithe), a privately held, independent power company now proposes to construct a 750 MW coal-fired power plant in the same location as the previously proposed natural gas-fired power plant. Newer technology has increased the efficiency of modern coal-fired plants and provides a more stable cost basis for power than natural gas. In addition, the coal-fired power plant would decrease the water use requirements substantially from those of the previously permitted project.

The BLM has determined that, although an EIS for the original gas-fired power plant has been completed, the currently proposed coal-fired power plant has a number of components that are different from the previously proposed gas-fired technology. These differences warrant the preparation and completion of a new EIS.

The BLM held public scoping meetings to understand the scope, or range, of issues related to the Toquop Energy Project that should be evaluated in the EIS. A scoping report was prepared to document the outreach activities and comments received from the public and agencies during this period.  Click on the Project Documents and Presentations link to the right to view related documents. 

For more information, please contact:

Brenda Linnell
BLM Ely District Office
Schell Field Office
702 N. Industrial Way
Ely, NV 89301