By JOHN HANNA

Associated Press

TOPEKA -- A bill allowing two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas won House approval Tuesday, but not with the majority needed to override a promised veto from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

The House vote was 75-47 on a version of the bill drafted by negotiators. A Senate vote, expected this afternoon, will determine whether the measure goes to Sebelius.

Supporters hoped to pass the bill with two-thirds majorities in both chambers, and they still expect to have the necessary 27 of 40 votes in the Senate. But in the House, where they need 84 of 125 votes, they were at least six votes short, with three members absent.

Still, House Speaker Melvin Neufeld predicted his fellow supporters can pick up enough votes to overturn a veto. He said it's possible by making trades on the budget and other issues in exchange for people switching to vote "yes" on a veto override.

"They'll let me know what they want," Neufeld, R-Ingalls, said of the opponents. "Some are budget. Some are other things. Some want bills run; some want bills not run. That's how this place works."

The bill would allow Sunflower Electric Power Corp., based in Hays, and two out-of-state partners to build the two coal-fired plants outside Holcomb, in Finney County. The $3.6 billion project has been blocked since October by Sebelius' administration over environmental concerns.

Sunflower officials praised the action Wednesday.

"We are pleased by the House's bipartisan action," said Earl Watkins, Sunflower's president and chief executive officer. "While we have work ahead of us, the House action today addresses concerns we and others across Kansas have with the KDHE permitting process while bolstering the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency policies."

The project has bipartisan support, and many legislators view it as vital to meeting the state's future power needs and consider it important economic development.

But opponents remained skeptical the expected veto will be overridden. Some legislators worry about potential carbon dioxide emissions, which many scientists link to global warming.

"I think people who are committed to having a good energy plan will stay where they are," said Rep. Cindy Neighbor, a Shawnee Democrat who voted against the measure. "I don't know that people are willing to sell their votes -- and their constituents -- down the line for it."

Besides giving Sunflower and its partners the go-ahead for the two coal-fired plants, the bill would limit the secretary of health and environment's power to set new air quality rules. It also would limit his ability to deny air-quality permits, something Secretary Rod Bremby did in Sunflower's case.

Sebelius strongly objects to the provisions reducing the secretary's power. She has said it would prevent him from protecting public health and the environment.

"She has been very clear about elements of a bill she will support -- and elements that she would not accept," spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said.

"Due to the Legislature's decision to keep that language in this bill, it's really not a question of if she'll veto, but when."

The three senators and three House members who wrote the final version included several "green" provisions designed to win over legislators nervous about coal-fired plants' CO2 emissions.

They even added a provision in their last round of talks to encourage utilities to develop programs that help consumers cut their power use. The bill already included a mandate that renewable resources, such as wind, account for 10 percent of investor-owned utilities' and electric cooperatives' generating capacity by 2012.

And Rep. Tom Sloan, a Lawrence Republican who voted last month against one version of the bill, voted "yes" on the final version. With it's provisions, he said, "The state has a much greener future."

Others said the measure wasn't green enough.

"The grass is greener someplace else, but right now, not in Kansas," said Rep. Annie Kuether, a Topeka Democrat who voted "no" despite her involvement in the negotiations.

Supporters have argued that Bremby's decision was an unprecedented attempt to regulate CO2 without legislative approval -- or having any written standards.

"The legislation here properly restates existing law and ensures that the KDHE process is fair," said Lee Boughey, a spokesman for one of Sunflower's partners, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a Westminster, Colo., electric cooperative. "It ensures that the law is applied fairly."

When Bremby refused to issue Sunflower and its partners an air-quality permit, he cited the plants' potential CO2 emissions and said the state couldn't ignore the changes associated with global warming. The plants could produce up to 11 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, though Sunflower says the figure could be as low as 4.5 million tons with technology it plans to employ.

Environmentalists still oppose the bill because of that, no matter what green provisions are included.

"The issue of carbon dioxide still needs to be addressed, and it hasn't been," said Tom Thompson, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club's state chapter. "I hope legislators that have voted against this bill will see through this."

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Energy legislation is the Conference Committee Report on House Sub for SB 327.

On the Net:

Kansas Legislature: http://www.kslegislature.org

Sunflower: http://www.sunflower.net

Tri-State: http://www.tristategt.org/

Sierra Club: http://kansas.sierraclub.org/

Department of Health and Environment: http://www.kdheks.gov/