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Show Oego!otory Delays, Uncertainties j Force Delay Of Kaiparowits Participants in the proposed $3.5 billion Kaiparowits Power Project in Southern Utah last week announced that delays in regulatory approvals had forced for-ced deferral of scheduled initial opertaion of the project by one year. Speaking for the electric utility participants in the huge coal-fired project, William R. Gould, executive vice president presi-dent of Southern California Edison Company, said: "We must regrettably recognize thse delays as realities and establish revised initial operating operat-ing dates. mr i iif iich i i. mi tmrWMmwmMmmmnwmwMwmmmwm "The delays stem from objections by environmental groups and lengthy approval processes," he added. "The participants recognize that any major energry project will result in environmental impacts," Gould said. "However, "How-ever, the Kaiparowits project has made an unprecedented commitment to environmental protection. "We intend to continue to proceed as rapidly as possible toward obtaining regulatory approval. However, until the various environmental issues and regulatory delays are resolved, and resultant cost increases, are assesed, the participants cannot prudently continue to make major expenditures (which would have amounted to approximately approxi-mately $80 million in 1976) to meet the present schedule." This rescheduling, of necessity, ne-cessity, Gould said, will delay completion dates one year for the generating units to the . 1982, '83, '84 time-frame. Edison, Arizona Public Service Ser-vice Company and the San Diego Gas and Electric Company Com-pany are the present project participants. Other utilities in Utah, Arizona and California have expressed interest in I purchaisng the 18.6 of I uncommitted power from the I project. I "The project is not a new I proposal," Gould said, "It ' has been on the drawing boards since 1962, and it has been in the environmental review process for nearly four years." A series of public hearings on the draft impact statement was held last September by the Bureau of Land Management-Department of Interior, in Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California. "Testimony at the hearings, as well as a state-wide poll by Utah Senator Frank Moss, established that the majority of Utah residents and state governmental leaders are strongly in favor of the project," Gould said. |