Southwestern Electric Power (SWEPCO), a wing of American Electric Power, requested the Arkansas Supreme Court to review a case related to the John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant.

In a ruling given on June 24, 2009, the Arkansas Court of Appeals inverted the decision of Arkansas Public Service Commission’s (APSC) to grant a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (CECPN) for building of the Turk Plant. But the company is continuing construction of the $1.6 billion plant in Hempstead County, Arkansas.

Paul Chodak, president and chief operating officer of SWEPCO, said: “By law, the CECPN issued by the APSC remains in effect during the appeal process. The APSC approval was overturned because the court objected to the approval procedure and not because the judges objected to the Turk Plant. Since the court’s decision was announced, we have heard clear support from many stakeholders – including community leaders, business and economic development groups, and elected officials – who want to see the plant completed.”

Chodak, said: “Approximately $713 million has already been spent on plant construction, and a total of $1.3 billion has been committed. It would cost even more to stop construction and then restart it. These costs have been prudently incurred under an order of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. The longer it takes for construction, the longer it takes for customers to get an additional power resource and the more it will cost customers in the long run. It will also affect the expected jobs and the needed revenues that will go into Arkansas’ tax base.”

The Turk Plant construction was approved in all three states served by SWEPCO, and also received the air permit. SWEPCO also has an obligation to its partners. One partner, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation which owns 12% of the plant provides power to around 490,000 customers in Arkansas.

The construction work force is also affected by the court’s decision, which presently stands at 723 people, and it expected to reach 1,000 people when the construction work begins.

If the Arkansas Supreme Court grants SWEPCO’s request for review, the court may elect to accept briefs or oral arguments, but time frame for a decision is uncertain. The Supreme Court would be in recess from mid-July until after Labor Day.

The company’s new power projects include the 600MW coal-fueled Turk Plant in southwest Arkansas and expected to commence in 2012, the 508MW combined-cycle, natural gas-fueled Stall Unit which is under construction in Shreveport, Louisiana is expected to be completed by 2010.

Its power projects also include the 340MW simple-cycle, natural gas-fueled Mattison Plant in Tontitown, Arkansas which was completed in 2007 and is helping to meet peak demand on the SWEPCO system.

The Turk Plant´s ultra-supercritical coal combustion technology would use less coal and produce fewer emissions, including carbon dioxide. “It will be one of the cleanest, most efficient coal-fueled plants in the United States,” Chodak said.