A report commissioned by a company trying to build an 805-megawatt power plant in Oxford said the project is the type Connecticut “desperately needs to attract business, grow its workforce and expand its economy.”
“As seen in the results presented in this report, these impacts are not only positive, but also considerable in terms of the economic benefits to the state and its residents, as well as the communities and municipalities immediately surrounding Oxford,” concludes the report, prepared by the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, which is part of the University of Connecticut.
But opponents called the report “self-serving.”
The report was commissioned by Competitive Power Ventures, a Massachusetts company trying to get approvals for an electric-generation facility (the “CPV Towantic Energy Center,”) on a 26-acre site in Woodruff Hill Industrial Park near the Waterbury-Oxford Airport.
The company said the facility will generate electricity for more than 750,000 homes in Connecticut.
The proposal is being met with some stiff opposition from area residents who don’t think the use is a good fit for the location. Environmentalists are worried about what the power plant could do to the Naugatuck River.
From the Waterbury Observer, an online newspaper:
The story is fairly simple; Oxford town officials are enthusiastic about the construction of a 805-megawatt power plant off Woodruff Hill Road that would provide a huge boost to the tax rolls in town, while surrounding communities (experiencing no economic benefit) are worried about nitrous oxide spewing out of smoke stacks, ground pollution, and millions of gallons of grey water being dumped into the Naugatuck River. The battle lines are a familiar story in America; money and industry versus the health and well being of the population and the environment.
But proponents have said the facility will be closely regulated. They also state the power plant, which will use natural gas to create electricity, will be valuable to residents because it will help stabilize the state’s aging electrical grid.
Everyone will get a chance to speak for or against the proposal during a hearing in front of the Connecticut Siting Council scheduled for 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Oxford High School. More info on the meeting here (link will download a PDF from the state).
At a press conference to unveil the economic analysis Tuesday at the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce in Shelton, town leaders from Oxford and Southbury were among the people to throw their support behind the project.
Oxford First Selectman George Temple said the facility is going within an industrial zone in town. The facility, albeit with less power-producing abilities, was approved by the Siting Council in 1999 but was never built.Temple acknowledged that there are residents opposed to the power plant.
“I understand people’s concerns (such as property values and pollution),” he said. “The impact on Oxford will be minimal.”
Proponents gushed over the revenue the project could bring to the area.
“The CPV Towantic Energy Center represents one of the largest private-sector infrastructure projects underway in our region, and will have a profound impact in helping to meet the growing need for safe and reliable electric generating capacity to fuel the continued growth of Connecticut’s economy,” said Bill Purcell, president Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, in a prepared statement.
“Stop Towantic Power” issued a statement in response to the report calling it self-serving and speculative.
The statement is embedded below:
The UConn-related report states the power plant will:
- Increase Connecticut’s “real state gross domestic product” by $7.85 billion over the next 25 years
- Create 2,300 jobs during the construction phase and sustain 1,800 jobs when it is operational. Those job projections include construction jobs and employees not directly employed by the power plant, ranging from delivery drivers to wait staff positions created at restaurants.
Dave Roche, president of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council, said the plant would mean jobs in construction.
“We’re coming out of one of the worst recessions and this is a great opportunity to put kids back in apprentice programs,” he said. “For us it’s a win-win.”
The full report is below.
