The company intended to use the railroad to transport coal to the energy center from Montana and from Wyoming's Powder River Basin. The company planned to spend $40 million of a $3.8 billion budget to rebuild 100 miles of the railway so it could connect with an existing Union Pacific rail line. LS Power, which also helped cover the cost to purchase the railway, also planned to use it for transporting coal to its White Pine Energy Station. By April 2007, analysts believed that only one coal plant would be built in White Pine County, with the Ely Energy Center being considered as more likely to proceed. In June 2007, a spokesman for the companies said they did not expect to receive opposition from the National Park Service, which had recently voiced opposition to the White Pine Energy Station for its possible environmental effects on the nearby Great Basin National Park. David Sims, project director of development for the Ely Energy Center, said the project would use superior air quality controls that would result in significantly lower sulfur dioxide emissions compared to the White Pine Energy Station. In July 2007, Harry Reid said he would fight the development of the two coal projects. Ely city officials expressed disappointment with Reid's position. Nevada governor Jim Gibbons, a supporter of the two coal plants, reaffirmed his support for the projects after Reid's comment. At the end of the month, seven groups submitted a petition to the Nevada Environmental Commission requesting that permits for the two coal plants be delayed until the commission enacted new limits on the amount of pollution allowed by such plants. A hearing on the matter was set for September 7, 2007. On November 28, 2007, Nevada Power announced that the project would be delayed for three and a half years because of regulatory review, while Sierra Pacific Resources planned to build a new natural gas-fired power plant near Las Vegas to keep up with demand in southern Nevada. Sierra Pacific Resources attributed the delay to the BLM, which had yet to issue an environmental impact statement (EIS). The BLM had expected to issue the EIS by summer 2008, but no longer expected to meet the deadline as it was also busy reviewing other projects. The company no longer expected to complete the first 750-megawatt unit by 2011, and did not set a new deadline for its completion. Reid praised the decision to delay construction of the project. In January 2008, the National Park Service stated that plans to build the energy center near Ely were "unacceptable" as it would harm the quality of the air and water at Great Basin National Park, as well as disrupt scenic views.