By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A zone change on 248 acres of property east of the
Mona Substation has been approved by the Juab County
Commission.
The move will clear the way for the construction of a
two-unit power plant which will be gas-fired with each unit
estimated to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
The two property owners, the Winn and Garfield
Families, which would be affected by the zone change, sent
letters of approval to the meeting.
"Several business-owners in Nephi also wrote letters
recommending the zone change," said Wm. Boyd Howarth,
commission chairman.
The motion to approve the change in zone from
agricultural to industrial was unanimously approved at
Monday's commission meeting following an earlier
commission-sponsored public hearing on the proposal.
In attendance at the Monday meeting was Lynn Rodeback,
who was representing power company interests.
"We didn't receive one negative comment at the public
hearing," said Neil Cook, county commissioner. "There were
approximately 11 comments made and all of them were
positive."
There were 28 people at the hearing held last
Thursday, with the Mona City Council showing up to lend
support to the re-zoning.
"It is unusual for a public hearing that we received
no opposition," said Robert Steele, commissioner. "The
people who spoke out about the zone change all thought it
was a good deal."
Howarth said there were representatives from Utah
Power and Light, PacifiCorp, and Pacific Power in attendance
at the hearing.
"They were happy with the outcome," said Howarth.
"They said they thought it was worth the trip to Nephi."
PacifiCorp bought out Panda rights to build a power
plant near Mona and have now placed a proposal before the
regulatory board. However, that proposal may or may not be
accepted, since the lowest bid to build a power supply plant
will be accepted.
If a lower bidder surfaces, they will have the right
to construct a plant and it need not be at PacifiCorp's
preferred site near Mona.
The RFB (Requirements for Prospectus) will close on
Tuesday, July 22. At that time, it will be determined if any
other power company out-bid PacifiCorp for the right to
construct the plant.
"Any company that can build the proposed plant
cheaper, will get the bid," said Howarth.
No one from the Juab School District nor Nephi City
Council attended the meeting, though if the proposal of a
two-unit power plant planned for the property receives
approval, all taxing entities of Juab County stand to
benefit.
In fact, with the addition of a power plant, assessed
values could almost double which would represent a tax break
for the average resident plus the addition of needed money
for the entities which run on tax dollars.
Utah Power and Light's resources recently received a
boost by the construction of an addition at the Gadsby Power
Plant in Salt Lake City and by the purchase by Utah Power
parent PacifiCorp of the output of a West Valley City plant
owned by Pacific Power Marketing, an unregulated subsidiary
of PacifiCorp parent ScottishPower.
The utility company operates as Utah Power in Utah and
Idaho.
PacifiCorp has 655,000 Utah customers among 1.5
million in six states.
Western price caps for power were put in place by the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission just a few years
ago.
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