A $1.3-billion coal-fired power plant in eastern Arkansas is expected to be completed two years from now, providing much-needed electricity at affordable costs.

Houston-based Dynegy Inc. and LS Power Development LLC, based in New Jersey, broke ground on Plum Point Energy Station in Osceola in May 2006. They expect to begin operating in 2010.

The 665-megawatt unit would generate power for utilities in eight states from Texas to Illinois. A proposed second unit would boost the output to 1,330 megawatts.

But environmentalists say the plant will be a major new source of pollution.

"If they build all 1,300 megawatts, it will be one of the biggest new sources of global-warming pollution in the U.S. in the last 30 years," says Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club's national coal campaign.

Nilles says Plum Point also will contribute to air quality concerns in the region, regardless of any controls built into the plant.