HOUSTON, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Susman Godfrey L.L.P. has successfully
concluded its pro bono representation of a coalition of Texas cities in
challenging permit applications by TXU Corporation to build eight
coal-fired power units across Texas.
    On February 26, 2007, following the announcement of the proposed buyout
of TXU by two private equity firms and citing a new environmental direction
for the company, TXU announced that it would withdraw applications for all
eight of the coal units that the coalition opposed.
    The coalition, known as the Texas Clean Air Cities Coalition, includes
Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, Waco, El Paso, Plano, Arlington, Irving, and
28 other local governments across Texas. The cities were concerned about
the environmental threats resulting from the large amounts of nitrogen
oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, mercury, and carbon dioxide to
be emitted from the proposed plants. The environmental consequences of
TXU's plan became a national and international issue.
    "Without Susman Godfrey, we would never have gotten the result that we
did, with TXU withdrawing permit applications for all eight units that the
coalition challenged," said TCACC Chair Laura Miller, Mayor of Dallas. "The
aggressive, relentless, and comprehensive legal work that was done on this
case in record time caused TXU to have to rethink its environmentally
unfriendly plan. What Steve Susman and his team did will be remembered by
the utility industry for a long time to come: people in this country will
no longer accept the construction of dirty, old-technology, coal-fired
power plants. Not even in Texas."
    "I am proud that our law firm was able to help the cities of Texas
stand up against this plan," said the coalition's lead attorney, Steve
Susman. "We are pleased that TXU has announced that it will withdraw every
one of the permit applications we opposed. We hope this can be a turning
point in the way Texas and the entire nation address the crucial issue of
greenhouse gas emissions."
    For questions contact:
    Steve Susman at (713) 653-7801 or Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, Chair of
the Coalition, through Chief of Staff Meranda Carter Cohn at (214)
670-0656.
    Background on the Case:
    The permit applications for seven of the TXU units were referred to the
State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) in late November and early
December 2006. The applications were placed on an accelerated discovery
schedule, following an executive order from Governor Rick Perry expediting
the hearing process.
    In a period of just over twelve weeks since the referrals, Susman
Godfrey overcame an initial challenge to the coalition's legal standing,
engaged in extensive written discovery, took depositions of senior TXU
executives and representatives of the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality, defended numerous additional depositions, submitted pre-filed
written testimony from ten witnesses, and prepared for a trial expected to
last three weeks and include approximately 25 witnesses.
    Susman Godfrey assembled a team of eight experts from across the nation
to address the consequences of TXU's plan. The coalition's experts
included:
     *  Dr. David Allen, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental
        Resources at the University of Texas, who conducted air modeling to
        determine the likely effects of the proposed plants on ozone levels in
        cities across Texas;

     *  Dr. Ron Sahu, a recognized national expert in pollution control
        technology, who evaluated whether the pollution controls proposed for
        TXU's plants were the cleanest available;

     *  Dr. Dallas Burtraw, a senior economist at Resources for the Future,
        who evaluated whether the proposed plants were needed to meet
        electricity demand in Texas, and addressed the consequences the plants
        might have for future power generation in the state; and

     *  Dr. Gerald North of Texas A&M University, one of the nation's leading
        climate scientists, who addressed global climate change, its likely
        effects in Texas, and the contribution of emissions from coal-burning
        power plants to global warming.
    Susman Godfrey and the coalition also overcame motions by TXU to
prevent discovery on issues related to carbon dioxide emissions and
Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle ("IGCC") technology, a cleaner
method of burning coal that first converts coal into a gas. A deposition
taken of a representative of ConocoPhillips by Susman Godfrey attorney Eric
Mayer confirmed that vendors would back the technical feasibility of using
Wyoming coal with IGCC, a point that some IGCC opponents had disputed.
    The three-week hearing before two SOAH Administrative Law Judges was
set to begin on February 21, 2007. On that same day, the hearing was
postponed for four months following a ruling from a state trial court that
the Governor's order expediting the schedule was illegal. Susman Godfrey's
attorneys proceeded to argue several of the key legal issues in the case,
including the question of whether carbon dioxide emissions and their
effects on global climate change must be considered under the Texas Clean
Air Act. The judges have not yet ruled on these issues.
    Following announcement of the buyout, TXU confirmed its plan to
withdraw the applications on February 26, 2007. TXU spokeswoman Kim Morgan
told the Waco Tribune-Herald there were many factors in the decision to
withdraw the applications, but said that "One factor was obviously the
growing opposition, not only by environmental groups but by cities." TXU
CEO John Wilder recently told the Dallas Morning News that even before it
was approached by the private equity firms, TXU's board and management was
in the process of "reshaping [the] development program to focus on a
smaller number of plants."
    One of the coalition's experts calculated that if the eight proposed
TXU units had been built, over the lifetime of the plants (assuming a
40-year lifespan for each), these permits would have allowed TXU to emit:
     *  over 1 billion pounds of nitrogen oxides (which contributes to
        formation of ground-level ozone, a regulated pollutant);

     *  over 2 billion pounds of sulfur dioxide (a pollutant linked to acid
        rain, respiratory problems, and reduced visibility);

     *  over 847 million pounds of particulate matter (a pollutant linked to
        respiratory and other health problems); and

     *  over 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide (a primary cause of global
        warming).
    Modeling studies performed by Dr. David Allen showed a significant risk
that the addition of the TXU units would have placed the Waco region above
federally mandated ozone standards, and would have worsened ozone problems
in Austin, Tyler-Longview, and Dallas-Fort Worth. The eight units would
also have emitted over 64 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, a number
that exceeds the total annual carbon dioxide emissions of many entire
states and nations.
    Six attorneys from Susman Godfrey worked on the case on behalf of the
coalition: Steve Susman in the firm's New York office; Eric Mayer in the
firm's Houston office; Terry Oxford, John Turner, and Ophelia Camina in the
firm's Dallas office; and Michael Diehl in the firm's Seattle office.
Altogether, the firm devoted over $2 million in time to the case.
    Susman Godfrey was assisted by, and worked closely with, David
Frederick and Layla Mansuri of the environmental law firm of Lowerre &
Frederick in Austin (who also independently represented the City of Waco in
the proceedings), as well as attorneys and staff from the City of Dallas
and the City of Houston.

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