Duke Energy North America buying proposed power plant
By MICHAEL LAMENDOLA
Gazette Reporter

Schenectady Daily Gazette
July 3, 2002

GLENVILLE - A subsidiary of a Fortune 100 energy company is acquiring control of the proposed power plant project in the Scotia-Glenville Industrial Park, officials said Tuesday night.

Duke Energy North America is the financial backer for Glenville Energy Park's proposed 520-megawatt gas-fired electric power plant, said Jon Pierce, a GEP spokesman. The energy project has been in development for more than three years, and the identity of a financial backer has been long awaited.

"They are in the process of acquiring GEP for an undisclosed amount," Pierce said. "They will develop the project and work with community and regulatory processes," during the 14-month-long application period, Pierce said.

The president of a local organization staunchly opposed to the power plant said Duke Energy North America's entry into the scene will make the group's fight harder.

"I'm sure we will run into even more deep-pocket opposition," said Neil Turner, president of Citizens Advocating Responsible Development.

"They'll have more resources to market the power plant, but it will still be a battle. The same issues and same problems that plagued GEP will plague Duke," he said.

Duke Energy North America is a subsidiary of Duke Energy, a Fortune 100 company that posted $60 billion in revenue in 2001, according to the compa- ny's Internet Web site. Duke officials were not available late Tuesday.

Duke Energy North America is a wholesale provider and trader of power and related energy services. It owns or has a partnership interest in four facilities in the Northeast. Two are located in New York state: American Ref-Fuel, a waste-to-energy facility in Niagara, and Fort Drum Cogeneration Facility, a 50-megawatt, coal-fired co-generation plant in Watertown.

The GEP site would be its largest power facility in the state. The cost to build the facility is estimated at $350 million, according to GEP officials.

Pierce said Tom Macaulay, a GEP partner, will remain on the project as a consultant. GEP officials plan to introduce Duke Energy North America representatives to local officials shortly.

"We're in the process of contacting people to introduce them to Duke representatives," Pierce said.

He said the company has already assigned a project manager to the effort.

Pierce called the announcement a fulfillment of a commitment GEP made that a "big company would be coming into the community."

He also said Duke Energy North America's involvement in the project signals this "company believes it's a good project that isappropriately sited and will receive approval."

The state Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment will begin formal hearings in the fall on GEP's application for the power plant.

Before then, groups and individuals who plan to present testimony during the hearings will meet on July 31.

This meeting at the First Reformed Church, 224 N. Ballston Ave., Scotia, is to determine whether their issues are relevant.

Contact Mike Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com.