$800M Natural Gas Plant Proposed for Lordstown
LORDSTOWN, Ohio -- A 57-acre plot in this village is the perfect place to construct an $800 million power generation plant because it sits near an "electrical highway" of power lines that connect Cleveland and Pittsburgh, says the executive of a Boston-area energy company.
Clean Energy Future LLC, formed in 2011 and based in Manchester, Mass., is looking to build a natural-gas-fueled power plant at 1107 Carson Salt Springs Road, reports its president, Bill Siderewicz.
"We're hoping to begin construction by the end of next year," Siderewicz said Tuesday. "We've still got to get all of the necessary permits."
Siderewicz says his company has helped develop power-generation plants in California, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania. Among the most recent were two ventures in Ohio -- one in Fremont, near Sandusky, the other in Oregon, in Lucas County.
Lordstown proved an attractive location for several reasons, Siderewicz notes. First, the company sought an area where there is a plentiful supply of natural gas. Oil and gas exploration in the nearby Marcellus and Utica shale plays have helped deliver a strong pipeline of gas to the region.
"We also needed a site with water, wastewater and open land," he said. "The answer came out in Lordstown."
Most important, the site on Salt Springs Road is near high voltage power lines, large lines that constitute an "electrical highway that takes power from Cleveland to Pittsburgh," he said.
The plan is to build a power plant capable of generating 800 megawatts of electricity, or enough power to supply 500,000 households, Siderewicz said.
Demand for more power is likely to increase as antiquated coal-fired electricity plants are taken offline, either retrofitted to burn natural gas or closed, Siderewicz said. "A lot of these plants are closing, and people are asking the question, 'Where is the power going to come from?' "
The proposed plant would include two power turbines that generate electricity. The steam produced from the water used to cool the turbines is recaptured to produce more electricity, and cooling towers on the property would be capable of recycling the water.
Clean Energy is a private company that would incur debt and equity investment to build the plant, Siderewicz said. "We're a wholesaler, and operate as a non-utility entity," he reported. "We don't go to our rate payers and ask them to fund it."
Among the first hurdles the project must clear is a zoning change for the Salt Springs site to industrial from business/residential, says Mayor Arno Hill.
A public meeting was held Monday to discuss the proposed zoning change, Hill said. A request to rezone was filed by Sheldon Gantt Inc., Niles, which owns the property. Clean Energy has an option to purchase the 57-acre parcel.
"Right now, there are more cons than pros," Hill said of the residents' sentiments. He says he and other officials plan to visit sites where Clean Energy has constructed other plants and assess whether it’s the right fit for Lordstown. "We've got a lot of homework to do," he said. A second planning and zoning meeting is scheduled for May 12.
But the payoff could be big in terms of construction jobs and tax revenue, he said.
The project, Hill noted, is likely to employ about 550 over the two-year construction period and result in 25 to 30 full-time positions once the plant begins operations.
"They need water, sewer, natural gas and access to power lines," Hill said. "This is the site they want."
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Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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