Dear Editor:

The national groups opposing all coal power projects, regardless of merit, continue their say anything, sue anything approach to White Stallion. Little of what they say about a Texas Supreme Court ruling is correct, starting with its date of issuance. The ruling almost a month ago, and - contrary to the implications of the opposition release-said nothing about the merits of the parties’ positions. Rather, consistent with recent Supreme Court rulings limiting the use of so-called mandamus proceedings to expedite review of particular issues, the court’s ruling simply preserved for later appeals the specific issue raised by the TCEQ and White Stallion.

The mandamus petitions filed by TCEQ and White Stallion sought expedited review of the district court’s unprecedented decision to ask TCEQ whether it wished to consider project plans other than the ones submitted by the permit applicant. TCEQ, which already has made clear that it issues permits for the projects for which applications are filed, will have the opportunity to confirm that position. In the mean time, contrary to the assertion by the opposition, the permit that TCEQ issued remains perfectly valid.

In response to other mistaken and incomplete assertions by the oppositions:

There was nothing “fast tracked” about White Stallion’s air permit: It took over two years from the date of application for the permit to issue, including over a year in a comprehensive contested case hearing process undertaken at the behest of the people now complaining about the results of that hearing.

Modeling submitted by the Sierra Club in the permit hearing established that White Stallion would have no measurable effect on Houston air quality. Adding Matagorda County to the Houston nonattainment area - a concept supported by the project, which already has its permit, but would do a great disservice to the citizens of the county by raising barriers to entry for other industries.

As a result of White Stallion’s voluntary decision to pioneer dry cooling technology in Texas, it has cut the project’s water needs by nearly an order of magnitude, and it now has access to all of the groundwater supplies in needs to run the plant.

Project development is on track.

Randy Bird

Chief Operating Officer

White Stallion Energy Center, LLC