Group: Power plant costs could increase

COLUMBUS (AP) — An environmental group is warning Ohio cities that their costs from a new coal-burning power plant could be substantially higher because of federal efforts to fight global warming.

A 1,000-megawatt plant in southeast Ohio’s Meigs County has been proposed by American Municipal Power-Ohio, a cooperative of local governments. Communities including Cleveland and the Columbus suburb of Westerville buy electricity from the nonprofit company.

The Natural Resources Defense Council says the project’s $2.5 billion cost could grow by hundreds of millions of dollars if Congress makes a widely expected move to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

A spokesman for American Municipal Power says it remains “pretty comfortable” with its cost estimate.