Sunflower Electric’s Holcomb expansion project canceled

Sunflower Electric Power Corporation announced Wednesday that the utility will no longer pursue the Holcomb Expansion Project. The corporation will allow the project’s air permit to expire on March 27.

Sunflower and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, which provides wholesale generation and transmission services to its member distribution electric cooperatives, began working together in 2005 to add coal-based units to Sunflower’s Holcomb Station. Both utilities had a need for additional capacity.

“Fifteen years ago, the price of natural gas was high, and wind generation was in its infancy,” Stuart Lowry, president and CEO of Sunflower, said in a news release. “At that time, the expansion of Holcomb Station emerged as the best way to meet our members’ long-term needs for generating reliable, affordable energy.”