11/18/2008
CHRIS GREEN
TOPEKA — The legal battle over the construction of two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas will now move to federal court.
    Sunflower Electric Power Corp. filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Monday against Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson and Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby.
    The suit claims those executive branch officials have violated Sunflower's right to fair and equal treatment under the law and are unlawfully prohibiting interstate commerce.
    Sunflower is asking that the officials be stopped from preventing Sunflower's plans to construct two 700-megawatt coal-fired generators near Holcomb.
    "In denying the air permit, the administration has discriminated against 400,000 Kansans and over 1.5 million citizen from other states who will be forced to pay the price of this decision for decades to come through higher electric rates," Earl Watkins, Sunflower president and chief executive officer, said in a written statement.
    "We believe we have an obligation to act on behalf of the people we serve and to correct this wrong."
    The case is designed to overturn a decision by Bremby last year to deny air-quality permits for Sunflower's $3.6 billion Holcomb expansion over global-warming concerns. Sebelius also successfully vetoed bills in the Legislature last year that would have cleared the way for the plants.
    Spokeswomen for Sebelius and KDHE could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday morning.
    Sunflower also is pursuing a legal challenge through the state's administrative appeals process, a case which could wind up before the Kansas Supreme Court sometime next year.
Read more about the lawsuit in Wednesday's Salina Journal.