[JYO] Tractebel Unplugs Loudoun Power Plant Effort - Teresa Brumback

 <A HREF="http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?newsid=4860";>Tractebel 
Unplugs Loudoun Power Plant Effort -- Leesburg2Day-- The Journal 
of Loudoun County</A> 

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Tractebel Unplugs Loudoun Power Plant Effort
<A HREF="mailto:teresa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx";>Teresa Brumback</A> 

Feb 26, 2002 -- Within minutes of saying its plans were still on hold, 
Tractebel Power Tuesday formally withdrew its plans to put a power plant in 
Loudoun County. “We won’t be proceeding with development in Loudoun 
County,” 
said Tractebel Vice President of Operations Mark Barry in Houston. “We are 
not developing any power plants in Loudoun County.” On Tuesday, the company 
withdrew its application from the State Corporation Commission where it was 
undergoing review. This week, a showdown was expected in the General Assembly 
on SB 554, a bill that would have severely curbed the SCC’s environmental 
oversight over new power plants. Heavy local opposition and delays were 
responsible for killing the project as well as opportunities that have opened 
up globally with the demise of Enron Corp., Barry said. “I don’t know if it 
was any one thing. It was related to time. The approvals weren’t coming in 
fast enough. When we look at all the delays and the time expended” the 
project became a no-go. It was an internal decision to look at other 
opportunities elsewhere, rather than a vote of the company’s board of 
directors, he said. While not ruling out other sites in Virginia, Barry said 
the company has a “business presence in Virginia” through its Hopewell 
facility but added the firm has no plans for developing power plants 
elsewhere in Virginia. Barry’s position switched within a half hour of being 
contacted Tuesday. Initially, he said rumors were untrue that the company was 
pulling out of Loudoun, but that it was still evaluating its options. A few 
minutes later he called back to make a formal announcement that the company 
effectively ended the project in Loudoun. Barry explained that he had to make 
sure that contractual issues the firm had could be resolved first before he 
could confirm the firm’s departure from Loudoun. Tractebel was trading 
locally as Loudoun County Power Company. For Barry, it was the end of a 
two-year battle for a power plant in power-hungry Northern Virginia and 
Loudoun’s Internet corridor. “I feel sad. I’m personally disappointed. I 
thought we were doing the right thing. Personally, I felt sincerely that the 
power plant could be a good neighbor.” Virginia Sen. William Mims (R-33) and 
Board Chairman Scott K. York (R-At Large), who were strongly opposed to 
Tractebel’s plans in Loudoun, were pleased with the announcement the firm was 
backing out. York said he met with Barry on Feb. 18 and learned then that 
Tractebel was ending its project in Loudoun. “They had to work through some 
contractual agreements with the owners of the land” at the site in Lee Center 
Business Park southeast of Leesburg. “He asked me not to tell. Evidently, 
people know now in Richmond. This is a big win for the folks who would have 
had to live near the facility.” York praised the efforts of citizens, Mims 
and Supervisor Mark Herring (D-Leesburg) who opposed the project. Mims said 
multiple sources within the independent power community in Richmond gave him 
the final confirmation Tuesday afternoon. “This is extremely good news,” 
Mims said. “The Tractebel proposal was at the wrong location. This site was 
not appropriate, and was adjacent to hundreds of homes. It is not an 
appropriate site in 2002. I hope it will look at other sites in other areas 
of the state,” Mims said. Too many unresolved questions remained about the 
firm’s proposal to put a plant in a region which is flagged a non-attainment 
area under the Clean Air Act, Mims said. The region is a non-attainment area 
because it has exceeded pollution levels for ground-level ozone. For the 
Belgian-based Tractebel, it was the end of a two-year battle after the firm 
encountered strong opposition locally and in Richmond and by reluctance by 
state regulators to embrace it. In the end, it was easier to pick up and 
leave than stay in Loudoun and continue to right an uphill battle, according 
to Barry. Tractebel, he said, is eyeing energy opportunities globally that 
have opened with the demise Enron’s fall as power plants are reportedly 
selling around the world at bargain-basement prices. “It’s not that we 
voted 
against Loudoun. We voted in favor of other opportunities. Prices are 
dropping [for buying existing plants]. It’s a question of opportunity.” 
Tractebel didn’t have a business relationship with Enron. However, Barry 
added, “I think every company in the energy business had contracts with 
Tractebel. I’m sure we did. I can’t comment on it. But they weren’t a 
major 
part of our business.” “After Enron, the market has changed for the power 
industry,” said Tractebel spokesman Jennifer Daniel Monday, when the company 
claimed it was still reevaluating its presence in Loudoun. “Tractebel has 
stopped the clock and is reevaluating” the project in Loudoun. The State 
Corporation was set to hold another hearing on Tractebel’s application on 
March 5. But on Friday, the company asked the SCC for a “suspension,” 
meaning a request to cancel the hearing with an option of bringing it back on 
the docket within 30 to 60 days, she said. On Monday, the firm asked the SCC 
to cancel the hearing. The company also will withdraw from its two lawsuits. 
Tractebel had sued the Town of Leesburg for its denial of public water to the 
site and separately sued Loudoun County for denying through its Board of 
Zoning Appeals, an option to use an existing special use permit for a 535-MW 
peaker plant that would run on gas or backup fuel oil at times of peak 
demand. The company’s representatives have also been in discussions with 
developer John Nicholas on an alternative site in southern Loudoun. Both 
Barry and Nicholas said that option is dead. 

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