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Manager: Cob changes in mail
published July 25, 2003
By BROOK REINHARD
The developer of a proposed power plant near Bonanza says he has completed an amended permit application that includes a cooling system that uses air rather than water.
Rob Trotta, project manager of the Cob Energy Facility, said this morning he placed the amendment in overnight-mail to the Oregon Office of Energy.
The state agency should have the amendment by Monday, Trotta said.
The Cob project, planned by Chicago-based Peoples Energy, originally called for cooling the plant with water pumped from a deep well in Langell Valley.
After local residents raised concerns about water supplies, Trotta decided to change the project design to air cooling. He told the Herald and News last month that he would submit an amended permit application to state officials by July 24.
Using air to cool turbines at the 1,130-megawatt plant is expected to reduce the facility's demand for water by 97 percent.
"We will just continue through the permitting process," Trotta said. "I will continue to follow through with the things we say we'll do."
The power plant, which would be sited on a 200-acre parcel of farmland a few miles southeast of Bonanza, has drawn the praise of local officials who are eager to reap the economic benefits of hundreds of millions of dollars in construction costs and the 25 to 30 jobs the plant would eventually provide.
But the project has earned the scorn of many local farmers and ranchers and water-rights activists near Bonanza.
"I think that's really great news from the standpoint of stress on the aquifer," said Doug Whitsett, president of Water for Life, referring to the amended project application.
Ron Kampwerth, a member of the anti-power plant group Save Our Rural Oregon, said he was very skeptical that Trotta would actually stick with an air-cooled plant.
Trotta said there's no way the company would switch once the plant was built.
"I have no intention of going in that path at all. It's kind of silly," he said, adding it would be both extremely expensive to switch from one system to another and that he'd have to get new permits with the state anyway.
Klamath County Commissioner Al Switzer, whom Trotta credited with convincing him to make the switch from water-cooled to air-cooled, said he was pleased by the announcement.
"I just told him, as we were going through the process, that it was time for him to be a good corporate neighbor," he said.
Switzer said he wanted people to realize that even if the Cob plant is approved, there's no guarantee that it will actually be built. The economics for power generation have to be just right, he said.
Trotta's announcement also drew praise from Stephanie Bailey, executive director of the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce.
"This is what we expected," she said. "They're showing they're as responsible as we think they are. It's a win-win for the community, for Bonanza and Klamath County."
The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council will consider the air-cooled amendment in reviewing the Cob Energy Facility's application. The Council is responsible for deciding whether the power plant can be sited at its current location, and will rule on the outcome of the plant by the end of January 2004.
Reporter Brook Reinhard covers local government. He can be reached at 885-4415 or (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at breinhard@heraldandnews.com.
By BROOK REINHARD
The developer of a proposed power plant near Bonanza says he has completed an amended permit application that includes a cooling system that uses air rather than water.
Rob Trotta, project manager of the Cob Energy Facility, said this morning he placed the amendment in overnight-mail to the Oregon Office of Energy.
The state agency should have the amendment by Monday, Trotta said.
The Cob project, planned by Chicago-based Peoples Energy, originally called for cooling the plant with water pumped from a deep well in Langell Valley.
After local residents raised concerns about water supplies, Trotta decided to change the project design to air cooling. He told the Herald and News last month that he would submit an amended permit application to state officials by July 24.
Using air to cool turbines at the 1,130-megawatt plant is expected to reduce the facility's demand for water by 97 percent.
"We will just continue through the permitting process," Trotta said. "I will continue to follow through with the things we say we'll do."
The power plant, which would be sited on a 200-acre parcel of farmland a few miles southeast of Bonanza, has drawn the praise of local officials who are eager to reap the economic benefits of hundreds of millions of dollars in construction costs and the 25 to 30 jobs the plant would eventually provide.
But the project has earned the scorn of many local farmers and ranchers and water-rights activists near Bonanza.
"I think that's really great news from the standpoint of stress on the aquifer," said Doug Whitsett, president of Water for Life, referring to the amended project application.
Ron Kampwerth, a member of the anti-power plant group Save Our Rural Oregon, said he was very skeptical that Trotta would actually stick with an air-cooled plant.
Trotta said there's no way the company would switch once the plant was built.
"I have no intention of going in that path at all. It's kind of silly," he said, adding it would be both extremely expensive to switch from one system to another and that he'd have to get new permits with the state anyway.
Klamath County Commissioner Al Switzer, whom Trotta credited with convincing him to make the switch from water-cooled to air-cooled, said he was pleased by the announcement.
"I just told him, as we were going through the process, that it was time for him to be a good corporate neighbor," he said.
Switzer said he wanted people to realize that even if the Cob plant is approved, there's no guarantee that it will actually be built. The economics for power generation have to be just right, he said.
Trotta's announcement also drew praise from Stephanie Bailey, executive director of the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce.
"This is what we expected," she said. "They're showing they're as responsible as we think they are. It's a win-win for the community, for Bonanza and Klamath County."
The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council will consider the air-cooled amendment in reviewing the Cob Energy Facility's application. The Council is responsible for deciding whether the power plant can be sited at its current location, and will rule on the outcome of the plant by the end of January 2004.
Reporter Brook Reinhard covers local government. He can be reached at 885-4415 or (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at breinhard@heraldandnews.com.
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