LORDSTOWN, Ohio -- Six months ago, a group of residents here fought against a proposal to rezone land in the village to accommodate the construction of an $800 million energy plant.

But now that plans have moved the project to another parcel that is zoned industrial, opposition appears to have evaporated and there's general consensus that the plant would serve as an economic shot in the arm for the community.

"From Day One, we were against rezoning the property on Salt Springs Road," says Lordstown resident Martin Jones, referring to the first site that Massachusetts-based Clean Energy Future LLC selected to build its plant. "A lot of the neighbors there were not happy about it. Our big beef was the zoning."

Last night many of those initial critics turned out in support of the project, as the village hosted a public open house where residents could  meet with company representatives and ask questions about the plant.

Jones says he and others were never against the electric plant, but rather its initial location, which he says was too close to residential neighborhoods. "Our major objection was the site."

Last week Mayor Arno Hill confirmed the project would move to another site, a 37-acre parcel on Henn Parkway in the Lordstown Industrial Park that is zoned industrial. That location, Jones notes, is far more appealing than the 1107 Salt Springs Road site. "It's far more acceptable."

Clean Energy Future  plans to build an $800 million electrical generating plant that would be fueled by natural gas. Construction work could begin as early as September, says the company's president, William Siderewicz.

In the next few weeks, the company plans to submit an air permit application to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and another permit application to the Ohio Power Siting Board. "If everything works out as envisioned, we'd be in a position to break ground in September of this year."

A timeline displayed at the public meeting estimates the project would be completed and the plant operational by May 2018.

Siderewicz says the project makes sense since several coal-fired electrical generation plants that serve northeastern Ohio are now, or scheduled to be, retired. "We looked at how many customers are there in the greater Northeast Ohio region," he says. "Because there have been significant coal plant shutdowns, we feel that there's more than adequate customers."

The plant would make money through the sale of two wholesale products, Siderewicz says.

The first revenue stream is to sell capacity to PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in 13 states through its annual auction process.

Second, the plant is likely to secure longer term agreements, roughly five to seven years, with organizations and institutions such as energy trading companies or fuel companies that would purchase the energy produced by the facility, Siderewicz says.  "We're quite confident based on the size of the marketplace and the shortage of generation, that we'll be having more than adequate energy purchases," he adds.

The privately funded plant would produce 800 megawatts of electricity, enough power to serve approximately 500,000 homes. "It's a substantial part of meeting the needs of northeast Ohio," Siderewicz says, noting that 3,000 megawatts of coal-fired electrical power is scheduled to come off the grid in this region because of plant shutdowns.

Lordstown proved an ideal place to locate the plant, he continues, because of its proximity to First Energy Corp.'s electricity transmission corridor. "If we were a warehouse, we'd like to be close to the interstate. We're an electricity production facility, so we'd like to be close to an outlet for our electricity." The second factor is that the location is near natural gas supply owned by Dominion. 

"If we look at power need, proximity to the wires and availability of gas -- all of those three things come together here in Lordstown better than they do in other places that we looked at," Siderewicz says. Construction costs should increase about $8 million at the new site, he notes, since it will require a longer connection to First Energy's power lines.

The energy plant would consist of two H-Class gas-fired combustion turbines, two heat-recovery steam generators, one steam turbine, technologically advanced emission controls, and high efficiency wet cooling towers. 

Once fully operational, the plant would employ between 25 and 28 full-time with a payroll of $3.7 million annually, and about 550 seasonal construction workers during the three-year building phase, Siderewicz says.

"It'll be a union job," he emphasizes.

As such representatives of the local trades are very encouraged by the proposed project.

"We'll have upwards of 100 laborers on this project at peak," says Jody Stringer, business manager for Local 935 of the Laborers Union. "It's a lot of work and money for our members. It's good for us."

Roland "Butch" Taylor, business agent for Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396, estimates about 200 of his members would be working on the project during its three and-a-half year construction phase.

Other benefits to the community include additional revenue for the school district, observes Mike Sullivan, a former village councilman. "It's clean energy, great jobs, and huge positive for the village."

Under a proposed agreement, Clean Energy Future-Lordstown would provide $1 million per year directly to the school district for a five-year period instead of paying property taxes, says Mayor Hill. That amount would then increase slightly over the next five-year period, and still higher for a third five-year term.

"It's a win-win-win for everybody," Hill says. "The school needs money, it's a boon for them."

Other residents are heartened that such an important project is on its way to Lordstown, even if the site is within earshot of their houses.

"I think it's great," declares Lordstown resident Brian Martin. "It's right in my own backyard. I'm happy with it and got no complaints. It's progress."

Pictured: William Siderewicz, president of Clean Energy Future LLC, presents information at Tuesday night's public meeting in Lordstown.

Copyright 2014 by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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