CHARLESTON, S.C. - Attorneys general from seven states and the District of Columbia say a planned $1 billion coal-fired power plant in South Carolina will undermine national efforts to protect the environment.

“We encourage South Carolina to explore alternatives that will satisfy its need for energy without exacerbating global warming,” reads a letter to South Carolina environmental officials urging them to deny a permit for the plant.

The letter was signed by the attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Copies were also sent last week to Gov. Mark Sanford and Attorney General Henry McMaster. Neither Republican has expressed support or opposition to the proposed plant.

Santee Cooper, the state-owned electric utility, wants to build two 600-megawatt generators along the Little Pee Dee River near Johnsonville in the northeastern part of the state.

The plant would power 600,000 homes. Santee Cooper has warned if it is not built, the utility will begin running out of power in five years.

The letter noted that states in the Northeast, Midwest and West are working together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“The proposed plant is projected to emit more than 9 million tons of CO2 per year, thereby seriously undermining the concerted efforts being undertaken by multiple states,” according to the letter.

It urged South Carolina to pursue energy conservation and use nonpolluting renewable energy sources for power.

It also said the law requires that “innovative fuel combustion techniques” be considered in reviewing the permit application.

The letter is one of more than 700 comments the Department of Health and Environmental Control has received. The agency has not said when it might decide on a permit for the plant.

McMaster said Tuesday his office has not made a decision on what, if anything, it may do.

“There are legal issues asserted in the letter. There are clearly policy issues asserted in the letter,” he said. “We’ll need to hear the people involved and review the law carefully and see if there are questions that need to be answered by this office.”

Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore said the plant will not break any laws.

“We’re building a power plant that will meet or exceed all federal and state environmental regulations,” she said.

It is up to state regulators to decide how much weight to give any comment about the project, she said.

Asked why out-of-state officials may have gotten involved, she said, “they are all politicians. I wouldn’t even begin to address what motivated them to file a comment in our plant permitting process.”

Sanford is still reviewing the power plant proposal and hasn’t expressed an opinion, spokesman Joel Sawyer said.

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