The project was postponed for three and a half years in November 2007, due to delays from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in issuing an environmental impact statement (EIS).
The decision was made due to the possibility of the United States Congress enacting carbon emission tax laws, which would increase the project's cost and make it unfeasible.
Additionally, the company had plans to ultimately build two 500-megawatt coal gasification plants at the Ely Energy Center, as soon as such technology became commercially viable.
[1] Sierra Pacific Resources had previously declined to be a long-term customer of LS Power's White Pine Energy Station (also proposed for the Steptoe Valley) and Sithe Global's Toquop Energy Project (proposed near Mesquite, Nevada) as bond rating agencies perceive long-term power contracts to be a liability for utility companies, while company-owned plants are treated as assets.
[4] Officials of Utah's Hill Air Force Base had concerns that the coal plant could interfere with training flights in the Ely area.
[7] In September 2006, environmental groups testified that the companies should delay the Ely Energy Center for a year to conduct further research, as the current version of the plant would produce large amounts of carbon dioxide.
[3] In November 2006, the Public Utilities Commission gave the companies permission to spend $300 million to begin developing the transmission line and the $3.7 billion Ely Energy Center.
[9] In March 2007, Sierra Pacific Resources agreed to help the city of Ely purchase the Nevada Northern Railway by providing a $375,000 loan.
The company planned to spend $40 million of a $3.8 billion budget to rebuild 100 miles of the railway so it could connect with an existing Union Pacific rail line.
[11] LS Power, which also helped cover the cost to purchase the railway,[12] also planned to use it for transporting coal to its White Pine Energy Station.
[11] By April 2007, analysts believed that only one coal plant would be built in White Pine County, with the Ely Energy Center being considered as more likely to proceed.
[27] In November 2008, Reid requested that Gibbons "join with me in putting Nevada quickly on a cleaner plat toward a renewable energy and efficiency driven economy and safer future.
"[29] On February 9, 2009, NV Energy announced that the project would be postponed for approximately 10 years, until the technology to capture and store carbon dioxide pollution would become commercially feasible.
"[31] A July 2009 report from the Government Accountability Office confirmed that air quality and visibility at Great Basin National Park would be affected if either of the coal plants were built.