A multiperiod mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for the operational planning of steam power system (SPS) is presented. The objective of the model is to simultaneously minimize the total economic cost and environmental impact. The environmental impact in the present approach is expressed by monetary cost of pollutant abatement technology and environmental charge triggered by pollutant emissions of steam power plants (SPPs) that fire fossil fuels. In addition, simplified operation models of multi-fuel boilers and complex turbines are formulated. Pollutant emission models involving fuel type, fuel composition, burning fashion, and pollutant abatement technology are also developed. A typical industrial SPS consists of multiple interconnected SPPs in a petrochemical complex is used to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method and the formulated model. The optimal operational planning schemes are obtained based on different environmental charge standards reported in literature. Compared to an economic optimization scheme, significant total cost savings and pollutant reductions are achieved simultaneously. In addition, the optimal economic and environmental scheme is quite sensitive to the environmental charge standard. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.