By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Juab County Commissioners expressed excitement over a
recent order by the Utah Public Service Commission which
made it possible for a Texas company to build a $200 million
natural gas-fired power plant near Mona.
They are most excited about the possibly leading to the
creation of 100 new jobs.
Dallas-based Spring Canyon Energy LLC was given the
go-ahead by the Utah Public Service Commission to negotiate
a contract with Portland-based PacifiCorp for 100 megawatts
of electricity under a so-called "qualifying facility"
provision that requires utilities to purchase excess
electricity generated.
A megawatt is enough power to provide electricity to
roughly 500 to 700 homes.
"I was present at the Utah Public Service Commission
meeting," said Robert Steele, commissioner. "This is a
totally different project than the Current Creek Power
Plant."
This plant would be known as the Spring Canyon Power
Plant, said Steele. It is named after Mona's Spring
Canyon.
Increased demand for electricity has put the state on the
verge of an energy crunch. Co-generation facilities, like
Spring Canyon's, would help meet high demand.
Doug Larson, PacifiCorp's vice president of regulatory
affairs, said Utah's peak demand is growing at 5.4 percent
annually. Because of that growth, the state needs roughly
250 megawatts of additional capacity each year.
Steele said the ethanol plant is an off-shoot of the
steam produced by the plant. Utilizing the steam for the
plant to make ethanol is a great idea, he said.
Electricity from the co-generation power plant would be
sold to PacifiCorp, which operates in Utah as Utah Power, at
a price of $50 to $60 per megawatt. The plant's steam would
be sold to an industrial customer to make ethanol.
Neil Cook, chairman of the Juab County Commission, said
the commission is excited about the addition of another
power facility and welcomes the power plant and jobs it will
bring to a county with just 9,500 people.
"Juab County is a very poor county," Cook said.
He said the jobs generated would be more than welcome. In
addition, he said, it would be wonderful to have the
increased property tax base. The increase in taxes would
help generate the money needed for many services.
"Our tax base has been stagnant for a long time. This
power plant would increase our tax base and therefore help
our schools, help our roads, help everything that we do as a
county to provide the necessary services to the
citizens."
Val Jones, commissioner, said he joined the others in
being pleased to have the company build in Juab County. In
addition to the increase in jobs and the tax base, the
construction phase was also a help to the local economy.
Several companies competed to secure permission to build
a plant, including Pioneer Ridge LLC and Mountain Wind LLC,
which intended to build two wind parks that would generate
48 megawatts of electricity.
In addition, ExxonMobil Production Co. had petitioned the
Utah commission to approve the sale of 75 megawatts of power
from a qualifying facility it owns near Kemmerer, Wyoming.
The Division of Public Utilities had recommended that
ExxonMobil be awarded the 100 megawatts.
"The plant would need to be built in a hurry," said Cook.
"It would need to be on-line by 2007."
Spring Canyon is required to complete its facility by
June 1, 2007. Cook said he thinks that is not enough time,
since Spring Canyon must reach a contract with PacifiCorp
before building the facility.
"I still don't look at it as a done deal," Cook said. "I
don't see any way in the world they could be on-line by June
2007 without getting some kind of extension."
In his opinion, after attending the meeting, said Steele,
he was optimistic. "It looks very favorable and looks like
it will be built in our county."
Steve Mecham, an attorney for Spring Canyon, said he did
not anticipate any road blocks in striking a contract.
"The (PSC) commission," Mecham said, "while ordering that
Spring Canyon was first in line for those remaining 100
megawatts, also ordered good faith negotiations, and that's
what I expect of both parties."
Steele said he also considered the good-faith
negotiations to be of benefit to getting the plant in
service in short-order.
Dave Eskelsen, a spokesman for PacifiCorp, said past
qualifying facility contracts have taken two to three months
to negotiate. Spring Canyon has estimated it will take 18 to
24 months to build the plant.
Larson questioned whether 100 megawatts will be enough to
make Spring Canyon's plant economically viable.
"There are economies of scale," Larson said. "My guess is
that the reality of a 100-megawatt plant being the best and
most economical is not there. It probably takes a larger
plant than that."
PacifiCorp already is constructing a $350 million natural
gas-fired power plant near Mona. The 525-megawatt plant,
called the Currant Creek power project, will be completed in
two phases, with 280 megawatts operational by the summer of
2005 and 245 megawatts in 2006.
The stack for the project is currently being erected and
Eskelsen said the plant was on schedule for the expected
opening. Construction was going as planned, he said.
"A gentleman from a magnesium plant was at the public
service commission meeting," said Steele. "He read the state
statutes to us which explained what the state requires. It
was most helpful to us."
|
