Some Nevada officials are skeptical of promises that Hill Air Force Base, a facility at Ogden, Utah, will not interfere with development of two giant power plants, a wind farm and power transmission line near Ely.

Air Force officials underscored their commitment to allow power plants development during a meeting of the Nevada Renewable Energy & Energy Conservation Task Force on Tuesday. The task force met in Ely, North Las Vegas and two other locations by teleconference.

David Sims, director of project development for Nevada Power Co. of Las Vegas and affiliate Sierra Pacific Power Co. of Reno., outlined the companies' plan to build a 1,500-megawatt, coal fired power plant outside of Ely. The utilities plan to start operating the first unit of the power plant by 2011 followed by the second two years later, he said.

In addition, the electric utilities want to build a 250-mile transmission line that would directly link the Northern and Southern Nevada's companies for the first time. Future plans for the proposed $4 billion Ely Energy Center complex call for installing a plant that burns gasified coal once that technology becomes commercially feasible, Sims said.

LS Power also says it intends to construct a 1,600-megawatt, coal-fired power plant near Ely. It has formed a venture with Tim Carlson, managing partner of Nevada Wind, to establish a 200-megawatt wind farm that harnesses the wind on the Egan Mountains to make electricity.

The utilities' parent company, Sierra Pacific Resources, says the Ely Energy Center is needed to replace many of the company's aging power plants, which will allow it to hold down rising utility bills.

It was the second time in about two weeks that Air Force officials promised the power plants could proceed and coexist with flight training in the Ely area.

"The whole concept behind this proposal is so that Nevada folks are able to do what you need for your economic future," said an Air Force captain who was not identified.

Task Force chairman Mark Russell, however, asked if the Air Force representatives were saying that they would not object to the power plant projects.

Clyde Rexroad, director of operations for Hill, said Russell's understanding was correct.

Hill proposes to include air space over the Ely area in a "military operating area" but does not intend to have the area designated as restricted air space, the Air Force officials said.

Jerry Angus, Hill's air space manager, explained that F-16 fighter pilots would fly at 14,000 feet above sea level or higher and said that would allow plenty of clearance above smoke stacks at the power plants and even wind turbines at elevations as high as 9,000 feet.

The training flights would be limited to 56 days each year, Angus said.

The federal government will spend several years reviewing the proposal before the Ely area can be designated a military operation area, Angus said.

Task Force member Danny Thompson asked if the Air Force would object to the wind farm because of concerns it would interfere with radar. That's the reason that the Air Force vetoed plans for a wind farm at the Nevada Test Site in 2002.

Rexroad and others said they were not radar experts but did not expect that the turbines would interfere with radar.

Carlson noted that Air Force officials also participated in planning for wind turbines at the test site. "They were at our table every day, saying it was OK, until the last two weeks," Carlson said.

Britain's Royal Air Force has been able to avoid conflicts with wind turbines on the island nation, Carlson said.

"I'm very glad to see the Air Force coming at the beginning of the process, not at the end of the process," Carlson said. "You're working very well with us, and it's appreciated."

Kenneth Heinbaugh, a White Pine County commissioner, told Air Force officials that the Ely area is economically distressed and needs the power plant developments. He complained that the area near Fallon, where the Naval Air Station Fallon is located, was originally designated as a military operations area but then made into a restricted area.

"There are no plans to make this restricted air space," Rexroad said.

White Pine officials also fear that establishing the miltary operations area would limit explansion of the Ely Airport and use of the air space for civilian aircraft and tourism related to gliders.