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Deep in the coal country of Emery County near the small town of Castle Dale there is power, lots of power, well over a billion watts of power all being produced by the Hunter Power Plant. Located on highway 10 in Emery County, the Hunter Power Plant is 2.7 miles south of Castle Dale's center. The plant consists of 3 generators whose combined effort can produce 1,472 megawatts of electrical power. That's enough power to light over 24 million 60 watt light bulbs; an impressive output from a town with less than 2000 people. |
| Hunter Power Plant's first generator went online in 1978 and with it came an economic boon to the small desert town of Castle Dale.In addition the town's population has doubled in responses to economic opportunities the power plant has provided. There is of course a cost to produce the power generated by this desert facility, and the price is paid in coal and water. The 14,000 tons of coal required each day to keep Hunter running at full steam is supplied by several mines that are near the facility and the plants elusive water needs are supplied by the San Rafael River Drainage a tributary of the mighty Green River. There is always an ugly side to power as well, Hunter is no exception. Hunter burns coal and uses water to produce steam for its turbine driven generators; in the process large amounts of greenhouse gases and pollutants are also produced. In 2006 Hunter produced 10.7 million tons of carbon dioxide and over 7 thousand tons of sulfur dioxide. As disturbing as these numbers are it should be kept in mind that the owner of this power plant, PacifiCorp, would not operate this plant if there were no demand for the power it produces. |
