Lower Valley Energy directors on Thursday voted unanimously not to participate in the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Utah.

The decision comes after a two-year study of the Intermountain Power Project Unit 3, a proposed 900 megawatt pulverized coal plant next to two existing plants near Delta, Utah. If the utility had chosen to participate in the plant expansion, it would have received 15 megawatts when the plant is completed in 2013.

“We have been weighing our power supply options for many years and we’ve got to match that with what our member-owners want,” Lower Valley Energy Trustee Fred Brog said in an interview after the board meeting. “If there is any possible way we can go green, then we have got to go green.”

“No matter how clean coal gets, you’ve still got CO2 and you’ve still got mercury,” Brog said.

Lower Valley Energy Trustee Ted Ladd said that besides the ramifications of climate change in a place such as Jackson, carbon-free power is also becoming increasingly attractive financially because the government may regulate greenhouse-gas emissions in coming years.

“Our consultants factored in $12/ton of CO2 [for a carbon tax], but I’ve heard a range from $10 to $60,” Ladd said in an e-mail response to questions. “Even if we see a low tax in the near future, it could change dramatically in 2009 if there is a shift in the national and international political landscape.”

Other factors combined to made the coal plant less attractive.

“It wasn’t killed just because it was coal fired,” said Jim Webb, Lower Valley’s chief executive officer.

First, Lower Valley does not project to need the power until 2022, but the plant will be online in 2013.

Second, the power had to pass through three different transmission systems to get to the valley and each system exacts a surcharge.

At the meeting, board members said Lower Valley will focus on conservation to meet its future needs.

Lower Valley has an agreement with Bonneville Power Administration to supply all the power that it needs at a set price.

That agreement ends in 2011, at which point Lower Valley will be grandfathered in at its current usage. Lower Valley Energy will have to find a way to meet any need more than its Bonneville allotment.

To buy more power would cost about $60 to $70 per megawatt-hour, but Webb estimates the cost of conservation projects that would save the power Jackson Hole will need would be cheaper.

“If we can ... not pay the $70 (per magawatt-hour), then we all save, but there’s only so much of that we can get,” Webb said. “What we need to find out is: Is some of that smoke and mirrors or can we really get those megawatt-hours?”

Webb noted that the conservation efforts fit with what the town and county are trying to do to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions. Within the next six months, Webb said, he expects to have a business plan detailing conservation goals and how those goals can be met.

Lower Valley electricity usage is projected to increase from 80 megawatt-hours to 123 megawatt-hours during the next 25 years.

Conservation will not be able to make up the difference indefinitely, leading Lower Valley to examine some renewable sources as well as conventional energy production.

The cooperative currently sells on the open market six megawatt-hours of power under contract from a coal-fired power plant in Boardman, Wash. As electricity use in Jackson Hole increases, Lower Valley may begin using that capacity. Lower Valley also has the option of purchasing additional power from Bonneville Power at higher rates, provided that power is available.

Renewable sources could include wind and geothermal.

Lower Valley is looking at two possible geothermal sources.

The Raft River geothermal project near the Idaho-Utah border could produce up to 100 megawatts of electricity once it is complete, but Lower Valley has not been able to negotiate to bring the power to Jackson.

“I would really like to see us be able to get into it,” Webb said. “We have tried to get our foot in the door but it’s been difficult.”

The cooperative is also looking at a possible geothermal project in Star Valley between Auburn and Freedom.

“There are some old deposits of sulphur that indicate there may be something there but it’s very preliminary,” Webb said.

But before the Jackson Hole environmental community fills their Nalgene bottles with organic beer for a collective toast to renewable energy, they may want to hear Brog’s preferred source of green power.

“I’ve always been excited about putting an electric turbine on Jackson Lake dam, but the Jackson folks say it’s unacceptable,” he said.

Brog said the project makes sense because it would not require building a new dam, would not have the emissions of traditional coal and natural gas plants and would not require the use of multiple transmission systems.

The idea of putting a turbine on the dam has been around for decades and each time has been met with opposition from Jackson residents and Department of the Interior officials.

Webb said Lower Valley officials talked with Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott about a year ago concerning a plan, which would provide power to the park and include an interpretive site.

They received a warm reception, Webb said, but the idea was panned in higher levels of the government.

“We are not actively pursuing it, but if the opportunity came up, we would be interested in it,” he said. “My instructions from the board are don’t spend any more money on it but a few phone calls never hurt.”