Vacaville may OK lease for proposed $500M power plant

Vacaville may OK lease for proposed $500M power plant
East Bay Business Times - by Jessica Saunders
May 9, 2008



The Vacaville City Council is set to decide May 13 whether to lease 25 acres near its wastewater treatment plant to a private developer seeking approval to build a 500-megawatt power plant that could cost $500 million.

Competitive Power Ventures Inc. wants the land southeast of the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant because it is in a less-populated area and has access to recycled water for cooling, pipelines to supply natural gas for the plant and power transmission lines to export electricity to the state grid, said Andy Welch, vice president of development for CPV. The plant is expected to produce about 500 megawatts of electricity, but he said the final output numbers could change. Using industry averages, a 500-megawatt plant would produce enough energy to power 325,000 homes.

"It will be a large power plant," Welch said.

The city had no other plans for the 25 acres, and the deal with CPV could eventually generate $2.5 million to $3 million in revenue annually, said Mike Palombo, the city's economic development manager.