There was a packed house at East Montana Middle School as the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality held a meeting to discuss the next step in the process of building a power plant.

This is a proposed plant that has many nearby residents asking tough questions.

Many people made their way up to the podium Thursday night, and most weren't pleased. An open forum held by the TCEQ was held to answer any lingering questions by residents in the area.

The TCEQ is looking to get an air-quality permit to move the proposed plant forward.

El Paso Electric said the plant will be a state-of-the-art facility that uses fossil fuels and is capable of powering 80,000 homes.

However, many nearby residents aren't so sure. Most who spoke up were concerned about the health and environmental issues.

"The folks from El Paso Electric said that they have conducted studies and determined that this is the best site. This is the best site from their perspective, certainly not from my perspective," said a concerned resident at the meeting.

The plant, however, will be powered by natural gas, which is the cleanest natural gas according to El Paso Electric. Still, more questions remain and many residents wondered why they never noticed and just saw a small article in the paper.

"If I have a huge company, and I want to promote it very proud, I would do the whole front page so that everybody would know," said one woman, a concerned resident.

Public opposition alone isn't enough to stop the permit from going through. This doesn't mean it can't be challenged, but the comments have to be research-based and have more substance than just a generic "we're not happy about this," El Paso Electric officials said.

No formal decisions were made Thursday night.