It was over eight years ago that we formed the Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water to fight a coal-burning power plant proposed in our county. While our principle reasons for stopping the plant remain -- protecting our air, water, health and quality of life -- one significant change has emerged in those eight years. It is the growing transformation of energy markets.

Many states, utilities, municipalities and energy providers across the country are avoiding new coal-fired power plants for many valid reasons. Chief among them is that coal will always be the dirtiest source of energy. If the pollution doesn't go out the stack, it goes into the fly ash. Either way, it's a problem that never goes away. And because of growing concern over greenhouse gas emissions, pending climate legislation in Congress, and the realization that fossil fuels are finite, many energy providers are reluctant to add more coal to their portfolios. Moreover, the cost of constructing such plants has skyrocketed.

This all spells huge financial risks that are difficult for both ratepayers and financial institutions to swallow. Which is why approximately 100 of more than 150 new coal-fired plants proposed during the Bush administration have either been shelved indefinitely or permanently. It is also why the market for new coal-based power is quickly shrinking.

California law forbids new coal-fired power to be sold there. Las Vegas and Nevada power markets are also off the table, with a 1,500-megawatt plant and a 1,600-megawatt plant put on indefinite hold this year while power providers find ways to capitalize on Nevada's substantial geothermal and solar resources. And the CEO of Arizona Public Service, which serves the Phoenix and Tucson markets, said recently that new coal-based energy does not fit into its business plan. Instead, the APC is planning to exploit that state's immense solar power potential.

New Mexico is also planning commercial-scale solar and wind projects while deciding what to do with the proposed 1,500-megawatt Desert Rock plant, a potentially huge polluter opposed by Gov. Bill Richardson. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and Excel Energy have also made clean renewable energy a growing part of that state's energy portfolio and economy.

Utah's largest electrical power providers, Rocky Mountain Power and the Utah Association of Municipal Power Systems, have shelved plans for any new coal projects, including the proposed Intermountain Power Unit No. 3 near Delta.

At the same time, wind, solar and geothermal technologies, coupled with energy efficiency, have improved at light speed, making them much more cost-effective. States all around the West are announcing renewable-energy projects nearly every week, along with new manufacturing facilities, bringing the promise of long-term, good-paying jobs.

These dramatic market changes beg the question: Where does Sevier Power Co. hope to sell 270 megawatts of dirty coal-based power? No one knows. But without some type of power-purchase agreement, the ability to secure financing for a $700 million plant in today's economy is tantamount to applying for a $200,000 mortgage without a job.

After eight long years, Sevier County is wasting precious resources over a plant that has little or no market and is no closer to moving one shovel of dirt. SPC's air permit has been appealed all the way to the Utah Supreme Court. The transfer of precious water needed for cooling the plant has not been approved due to more than 100 separate appeals. The company has no permit to store the coal ash and no permit from the county to build the plant because SPC has never filed the necessary paperwork. If it does, and the county planning commission approves the permit, SPC will still need approval from Sevier County voters, thanks to last fall's successful citizens' ballot measure.

Where does this leave our county in the changing energy markets? Stagnant. As long as we continue to wrangle over this proposed coal plant, alternative energy prospects will remain at bay. In effect, the SPC plant represents 270 megawatts of lost opportunity that could otherwise be utilized to attract clean energy and clean jobs to our region.

It's time for SPC to swallow its losses and move on. We don't want this plant. What we do want is clean energy, clean jobs and a healed community.

Jim Kennon is president of Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water.