DG Clean Power, LLC
Power plant proposal for Billerica grows to $230M
By JENNIFER AMY MYERS, Lowell Sun Staff, 1/03/2007
BILLERICA-- The wheels have begun to roll on the proposal to bring a natural gas-fired peak power plant to North Billerica, and it is larger than initially presented.
In September, representatives from DG Clean Power presented their plan for a $150 million, 340-megawatt power plant for 13 acres off Billerica Avenue behind the former D.J. Reardon building, just north of the wastewater-treatment plant.
In a filing with the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the scope of the project has grown to a $230 million, 480-megawatt plant.
"Now that we have had a look at the layout of the site and the potential transmission, we are leaning toward the higher number," said DG Clean Power CEO Joseph Fitzpatrick. "We are supporting a study with the ISO will touch on the impact on the transmission system of making it a 480-megawatt plant."
Fitzpatrick added that he expects any additional impact to be minimal.
"It is just the difference between installing six or eight turbines," he said.
The plant, which would run on a combination of natural gas and ultra-low sulfur fuel oil, would only be operating 15 to 20 percent of the hours of the year, providing backup to the electrical grid during peak periods, such as heat waves, to prevent blackouts or rolling brownouts that have plagued other parts of the country.
New technology allows this type of power plant to run hundreds of times cleaner than older plants operating throughout New England, officials say.
The benefit to constructing a larger plant, Fitzpatrick said, is the ability to generate additional power to meet the growing needs of the area.
"Obviously, from a fiscal perspective, the town would like a larger plant," he added.
The 31,500 square-foot plant could pour an estimated $1.5 million annually into the town's pockets through a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement.
The Billerica plant is the largest such proposal pending in Massachusetts.
Fitzpatrick said he expects the proposal to be before the Billerica Zoning Board of Appeals in two to three months, with construction slated to begin in November, and the plant to begin operating in late 2008.
"That will take expedited permitting from the state, but that is generally not a problem as long as there is not a lot of opposition from the community," he said.
Selectmen Chairman Ellen Day Rawlings said that she welcomes the proposal, but will be vigilant in making sure all questions are answered and all concerns addressed.
"It seems to be sited well and away from people," she said. "But, we want to make sure that environmentally, and in terms of the neighborhood there are no negative impacts."
Jennifer Amy Myers' E-mail address is jmyers@lowellsun.com.
