ERLANGER — The 100 or so Kenton County residents who met Tuesday to protest an addition to a Northern Kentucky power plant want their voices to be heard at the company's Cincinnati headquarters.

        Residents and local leaders met at the Erlanger fire station on Bartlett Avenue to protest a Cinergy Corp. plan to build a peaking station on Erlanger-Crescent Springs Road in front of the company's gas plant and electrical substation.

        “Our best chance is to embarrass (Cinergy) as much as we can,” said State Rep. Jon Draud, R-Crestview Hills.

        Two weeks ago, Cinergy Capital & Trading Inc., an affiliate of Cinergy Corp., received approval for the station from the Kentucky Division for Air Quality.

        Crestview Hills Administrator Kevin Celarek said two steps are planned for now: an appeal of the decision to the state Office of Administrative Hearings in Frankfort by the end of next week; and a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court if the appeal fails.

        In addition, Mr. Draud has written a bill he plans to introduce in the General Assembly in January that would require companies to have Kentucky Public Service Commission approval for any future construction.

        Cinergy's station would cost $40 million to $50 million and consist of two natural gas-fired turbine engines. Energy generated at the peaking station would be sold on the wholesale market and would boost the supply of electrical power in Northern Kentucky during periods of high use.

        Critics say the station site should not be so close to residential areas. It is about 800 feet from residents of Crestview Hills, 700 feet from the Baptist Village assisted-living complex and 600 feet from the site of the future Erlanger branch of the Kenton County Public Library.

        Mr. Celarek invited Cinergy representatives to Tuesday's meeting in a May 9 letter. Cinergy president and chief executive officer Michael J. Cyrus declined the invitation in a May 14 reply to Mr. Celarek.

        The reply mentioned a Cinergy door-to-door information effort to residents, a forum at Thomas More College and telephone and written correspondence.

        “Despite all this communication we fully recognize that some opponents will never be supportive of our proposal,” Mr. Cyrus wrote. “Your letter suggests that it is appropriate for Crestview Hills to set up a meeting for us to respond to the concerns of citizens. We feel we have already done this, and we will continue to respond in an appropriate manner to individual written communications.”

        Reaction among eight suburban Kenton County city councils concerning the station has been mixed.

        Edgewood, Elsmere, Erlanger, Crestview Hills and Fort Mitchell are against it. Lakeside Park and Fort Wright have not taken a position, and Villa Hills is expected to discuss it tonight.

        There was no such ambiguity Tuesday.

        Dianne Goetz, 45, of Erlanger, was one of several carrying signs protesting the station, and she suggested Cinergy build somewhere along Ky. 17, which runs through southern Covington and Fort Wright and consists largely of factories.

        “I think (Cinergy should) consider someplace ... where there's industrial stuff,” Ms. Goetz said.

        Jacqueline Plattner-LeVoir, 34, of Lakeside Park, said educating the public about the potential pollution is equally important.

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