Gas-fired Power Plant Proposal Unveiled

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‘Renovo Energy Center’ Planning Continues

RENOVO – While their words were couched in caution, officials of the Clinton County Economic Partnership have publicly announced preliminary details of a proposal to locate a state of the art gas-fired power plant at the Renovo Industrial Park.

The Partnership used the occasion of a Tuesday bus tour of county industrial sites to provide the update relative to an ongoing effort to get the natural gas to electricity plant constructed in Renovo. Partnership President Mike Flanagan and Renovo Rail representative Jim Russo released the information on what will be known as the Renovo Energy Center LLC, its developers headquartered in Frederick, Maryland.

Flanagan reiterated what he had told The Record earlier in the week, there is still a long way to go to bring the proposal to a construction stage. Using a baseball analogy, Flanagan said the project is now on “first base, a solid first base.”

He said the Renovo site provides many positives: “We’re in a good spot here primarily because of the gas and Dominion (Transmission) and also the power lines that exist here already.” In the meantime, he said, considerable permitting needs to be achieved before any final go-ahead, “at least 18 months before that happens.”

Russo said Renovo Rail has 57 acres at the site, another 15 owned by Bobby Maguire of McElhattan. He cited proximity to the Dominion Transmission facility nine miles away as a plus for the proposed site and what he said was the main electricity transmission line for New York State located on a hill above the Renovo Rail holdings; natural gas-generated electricity would go onto that grid.

Russo was cautious as to the hurdles to be cleared, describing the project at “20 steps out of 500 to be taken.”

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He said all buildings on the site, some going back to 1890, will be leveled. Russo said the Department of Environmental Protection and local government officials have been helpful in the process. He said the company “coming here is really pushing hard to help the small community of Renovo and of course themselves.”

Russo and Flanagan were reluctant to offer a detailed timeline for the project, Russo noting “permitting issues could take longer than what they normally could.” Flanagan earlier this week said, “It’s a solid two years away. Let’s hope it’s a 2017 project.”

No information was offered on prospective employment levels if and when the project would come to fruition; nor was there any word on the size of the necessary manpower to construct such a facility but similar projects elsewhere have cost up to $600 million and employed hundreds and hundreds during the construction phase.

Bus occupants included all three Clinton County commissioners and board chairman Pete Smeltz spoke optimistically about the energy plant and an ongoing revitalization project across the railroad tracks in the town itself. He lauded the borough for its embrace of efforts to attract outside grants to improve the community.

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