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Hundreds of signatures supporting property tax abatement for Trailblazer project presented to county |
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Written by Publisher
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Saturday, 10 January 2009 |
SWEETWATER, Texas—Petitions bearing more than 575 signatures from area residents supporting a 10-year property tax abatement for the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center were presented Friday to the Nolan County judge and commissioners.
Those signing the petition said they were doing so to “bring this opportunity one step closer to fruition,” also adding that "the project would bring significant economic benefit to the county and enhance our image as the clean energy capital of the world."
Developers of the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center have requested a 75 percent property tax abatement for the first ten years that the plant is in operation, which represents less than 19 percent of the taxes the project would otherwise pay if no abatement were granted. Even with the abatement, Tenaska estimates the company would pay up to $45 million, under current law using the current tax rates, to Nolan County during the five-year construction and 10-year abatement period and another $268 million in taxes during the 50-year life of the project. According to an economic impact study conducted by TXP, Inc. (TXP), an Austin economic analysis and public policy consulting firm, the Trailblazer project would bring well-paying jobs with benefits, an injection of local buying power, new tax revenue to support local services and enhanced oil production in the Permian Basin — all of which will mean renewed opportunities for long-term growth and prosperity in the region.At the peak of the project's five-year construction period, the project would employ approximately 1,500 construction workers. During construction, TXP estimates the project would result in $742 million in added economic activity in Nolan and surrounding counties. Once the project is completed, it would be directly responsible for about 105 good, permanent jobs and indirectly responsible for about another 71 jobs. TXP estimates the project would result in more than $300 million annually in added economic activity.
Letters of support for the project itself already have been sent to the commissioners by the Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development (SEED) Board of Directors, the Sweetwater City Commission, the Sweetwater Industrial Foundation and the Sweetwater Chamber of Commerce. The SEED and Industrial Foundation letters specifically support the 75 percent, 10-year property tax abatement.
“We are extremely gratified by this overwhelming show of support,” said Helen Manroe, Tenaska’s manager of business development. “Tenaska looks forward to bringing all of the economic benefits associated with the project to Nolan County’s citizens.”
Volunteer petition circulators from Nolan County obtained the long list of signatures in late December and early January. Lloyd Harris, community representative for Tenaska, coordinated the signature gathering.
The Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center would be the first conventional coal-fueled power plant in the nation to capture on a commercial scale up to 90 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) that would otherwise enter the atmosphere. The facility would generate enough baseload electricity to serve the needs of about 600,000 households. Plans are to construct the power generating facility east of Sweetwater and transport the captured CO2 via pipeline to the Permian Basin for use in enhanced oil recovery, an activity expected to add millions of dollars a year to the Texas economy. Construction could begin in late 2009 and be completed in 2014.
About Tenaska
Tenaska is a privately held energy company, based in Omaha, Neb. that develops, constructs, owns and operates electric generating plants. The company has developed four plants in Texas and continues to own and operate two, Tenaska Frontier Generating Station near Shiro, Texas, and Tenaska Gateway Generating Station near Mt. Enterprise, Texas. A third plant, the Tenaska Kiamichi Generating Station, near Kiowa, Oklahoma, also supplies electricity for Texas. Tenaska’s power marketing company, Tenaska Power Services Co., is based in Arlington, along with Tenaska’s Business Development Group. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 January 2009 )
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