Permitting process moves forward for Deer Creek Station

Basin Electric is another step closer to completing the necessary permitting for the cooperative's Deer Creek Station.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative - March 7, 2010

Basin Electric is another step closer to completing the necessary permitting for the cooperative's Deer Creek Station. On Feb. 25, the Western Area Power Administration held a hearing on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the plant in White, SD.

The Deer Creek Station will be a 300-megawatt combined cycle power plant located southeast of White, SD, near Brookings. It will be Basin Electric's fi rst combined cycle power plant and will use two turbine-generator sets: one fi red by natural gas, the other powered by steam.

The natural gas will be delivered via the Northern Border Pipeline, and Deer Creek will be connected to the electric grid by constructing less than one mile of new 345-kilovolt transmission line.

In addition to representatives from Western, Basin Electric and the Rural Utilities Service, meeting attendees included area residents, representatives from Basin Electric's member cooperatives in the area, district and county employees, and others. The purpose of the meeting was to gather written and oral comments for the project and the environmental fi ndings completed.

"At the start of the meeting Western summarized the project and then opened up the microphones for public comments." McCollam said. "No one offered any formal comments for the record at the hearing; however the record remains open for written comments through March 22. Responding to public comments can add time to the process of moving from a draft EIS to a final EIS, so we are pleased the permitting process continues to move forward and this important step is behind us," he said.

Construction on the Deer Creek Station is projected to begin in the middle of 2010, with a construction workforce peak hitting about 350 workers. Construction will take about 18 months and, when operational, the plant will employ approximately 30 people.