There were raindrops, hard hats, bright safety vests and talk of electricity generation.
Madison County State Senator Frank Ginn invited county leaders recently to the site of a renewable power plant under construction in Colbert, asking both the company and the leaders to iron out contractual differences and get water to the facility.
County leaders are aiming to run a 12-inch water line from the Elbert County line 12 miles to the planned 58-megawatt Georgia Renewable Power (GRP) energy plant, where wood will be burnt to generate electricity. The estimated cost of the water project is $4.1 million. And Madison County has received approval for a loan to pay for the project from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.
County industrial authority members have said they don’t want to ink a deal until they have a “surety bond” in place, protecting the county taxpayers in case GRP goes out of business or is rendered incapable of purchasing water from the county due to an “act of God,” such as a tornado, fire or earthquake. Without sufficient water purchases from GRP, the county won’t be able to make debt payments on the water line. Thus, county leaders want protection in case GRP fails to make promised water purchases.
IDA attorney Victor Johnson said earlier this month that “there is no deal without a surety bond.” And the IDA set until the end of June for GRP to approve a surety bond. Otherwise, the IDA says they don’t see how it’s feasible to get more than a million gallons of water a day by April 1. GRP plans to be fully operational by June 1, 2019. The power plant has a contract to serve Georgia Power electricity at 8.7 cents per kilowatt hour. At a 58-megawatt plant, that’s a projected revenue of $5,046 per hour.
Neither Johnson nor IDA chairman Bruce Azevedo had responded as of press time to a request from The Journal for an update on negotiations between the IDA and the power plant.
Terri Lyndall, an attorney for GRP, assured leaders on hand June 27 that GRP “isn’t going anywhere,” adding that the company has a lucrative 30-year contract with Georgia Power and is committed to making plants in Madison County and Franklin County work efficiently. But she said water is a must and that the Madison County system is the only viable supplier for the Colbert plant.
GRP is aiming to sweeten the deal for Madison County to approve the contract. They are offering to pay more than $1 million for a three-million gallon water tank on the GRP site, then give that to the county for use with the county water system. They are also offering $1 million in “seed money” for the water line construction in the event that grant money doesn’t come through. Madison County is seeking a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
Ginn has worked company leaders and members of the industrial authority and county commission. He said he wanted county leaders to visit GRP and see what’s coming to Madison County.
“I wanted to make sure everyone in the room saw the commitment GRP is making into the county,” said Ginn to IDA and BOC members. “To get this far along and not have that source of water, it’s kind of dangerous for GRP and they realize that.”
Ginn spoke of the benefits the plant will bring to Madison County. Local leaders estimate roughly $1 million annually in new property tax revenues. There will be roughly 30 jobs on site and numerous others off site, such as truck drivers.
Ginn said the project also gives the county water system much more of a purpose and direction, while providing a line that can help future growth in Madison County.
“This is an opportunity to help build the county’s water system,” he said. “Right now, you really don’t have a big customer. And when you build a water system, one of the worst things you can have is a whole lot of lines and not selling any water…. It makes sense to bring a water line past Carlton, Comer and to Colbert. It ties three cities together and creates some redundancy.”
He said it improves fire protection for the county and lead to lower insurance ratings for homeowners. He noted that there wasn’t sufficient water flow in Colbert to battle a blaze at Ace Hardware on Hwy. 72 a few years ago and said this project helps address such issues.
Local leaders heard from GRP project manager Mehdi Shahbazi, who said mechanical installation and piping should be completed by the end of September and that the facility will be ready to open by June 1. He said wood ash will be kept onsite but that it will also be sold to third parties.
