The developer of a proposed 750-megawatt coal-fired power plant near Mesquite encountered a polite but focused group of 45 citizens at a public hearing late Wednesday at the Bureau of Land Management offices in Las Vegas.

Many of those attending were members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers who saw the Toquop Energy Project as a potential source of work.

One attendee, who was not identified, wanted to know if Sithe Global Power, an independent developer of power plants, was going to hire union workers. Tom Johns, vice president of Sithe Global, said the company was going to talk with organized labor about a project agreement.

Steve Ripka of Green Dream Enterprises objected to the plant's production of carbon dioxide, which some believe leads to global warming.

"Obviously, coal or any fossil fuel releases a lot of CO2," Ripka said.

Johns said carbon dioxide is not considered a pollutant.

"Technology really doesn't exist today (for containing carbon dioxide), but it could be viable 10 years from now," Johns said.

Ripka later explained that he worries about continued reliance on fossil fuels, such as oil, gas and coal, or nuclear power.

"We have to live within the budget of the sun if we're going to have a sustainable society," Ripka said. By that, he meant people need to use renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, that comes directly or indirectly from the sun.

The Sithe executive said Toquop would remove most of the major pollutants emitted by coal-fired power plants.

The power plant would reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 98 percent, nitrous oxide by 90 percent and mercury by 80 percent to 90 percent, he said.

Byproducts from the plant will be used to make gypsum for wallboard, concrete supplement and road material, Johns said.

The plant will use a cooling system that reduces water consumption by 80 percent and requires 2,500 acre feet yearly. The company has the right to dig water wells, but Johns said the company would swap the underground water for gray water from sewage treatment at the Lincoln County Land Act development planned outside of Mesquite.

"This isn't your father's or your grandfather's coal plant," Johns said.

Many of the coal power plants in operation in the West use older, dirtier technology, he said. While they provide a source of low-cost power, many are reaching the ends of their useful lives, he said.

Yet Nevada Power is trying to stay up with a 5 percent annual growth in power demand, compared to a national average of less than 1 percent, according to a Sithe Global chart.

One issue not raised by the audience was Sithe's competition with Nevada Power's proposed Ely Energy Center in Ely and LS Power's White Pine plant that would also be at Ely.

Nevada Power has said that it decided it was best to build its own power plant, rather than contract with an merchant power company such as Sithe Global or LS Power.

Johns says he remains optimistic that the Toquop project still will be a viable project and can provide electricity to Nevada Power as well as potentially other electric utilities in the region.

Sithe expects to start construction of the $1.2 billion Toquop plant in 2007 and complete the project as early as possibly 2011. The plant would be located on 200 acres in Lincoln County 12 miles northwest of Mesquite.