Petrochemical Tax Break Bill Clears House; Governor Pledges Support

HARRISBURG – The state House on Tuesday added its support to new legislation seen as a key for a $477 million natural gas synthesis plant proposed for Clinton County’s West Keating Township.

The state Senate on Monday, by a vote of 40-9, approved the petrochemical tax break bill; the House quickly followed suit on Tuesday, the vote 168 to 38 in favor. Also on Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf offered his support. In March of this year he vetoed a similar bill, but after a confab with Senate GOP leadership on Sunday, announced he would sign the new measure; at a press conference Tuesday announcing, “This is a better bill.”

The tax credits would take effect in 2020 and offer 25 years of credits up to more than $26 million a year, divided among no more than four facilities with a maximum tax credit of something over $6.6 million. Among the prospective beneficiaries would be the natural gas synthesis plant proposed for West Keating Township.

At the time the project was first announced, developers said the cost would be up to $500 million, could generate 600 to 800 construction jobs and provide between 150 and 200 permanent jobs. Timeline was for a two-year construction period, beginning in 2022. It is known that officials with the Clinton County Economic Partnership have had a dialogue with the prospective developer, Perry Babb, president of KeyState Natural Gas Synthesis.

A natural gas synthesis plant uses the methane in natural gas as a feedstock to produce a range of products used in agriculture, industry, medicines and transportation. The majority of CO2 generated in gas synthesis processes is captured and used in the making of other products. More than a dozen similar plants have been built across the US in the last 15 years.