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Feb 16 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Staci Matlock
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Money would be set aside to provide Navajo people near a proposed coal-fired plant with electricity under a last-minute amendment added Wednesday to an already hefty omnibus House tax bill. The state credit would combine with Navajo Nation tax breaks to help multinational company Sithe Global build a coal-fired electric-generating plant south of Shiprock. The credit also would help any future additions or renovations to existing coal-fired plants on Navajo land. The Navajo Nation and the tribe-owned Dine Power Authority hired Sithe Global to design, build and operate two plants with a combined 1500-megawatt output, called the Desert Rock facility. Coal for the $2.2 billion facility would be mined on site. The issue has split nearby communities, and the split was demonstrated at the committee hearing. The amendment by Sen. Leonard Tsosie, D-Crownpoint, seeks to divert a portion of the tax credit to a tribal fund for building power lines to Navajo homes. Tsosie said he would ask the Navajo tribe to also put a portion of the its tax credit to Sithe in a utility infrastructure fund. About a third of all Navajo residents lack electricity. "It looks bad to have power plants by homes with no electricity and in an area already contaminated by mercury," Tsosie said. "There's no sense to have people living in New Mexico with no power," he added. "It's morally wrong." The amount diverted would be $220,000 to $440,000 a year, legislative staff estimated. Representatives from Sithe and the Dine Power Authority fought against the amendment, saying any reduced tax credit would make the project less viable, and an agreement had already been reached. Richard C. Minzer, a Sithe lobbyist, read a letter from Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley asking for no amendments to the bill. Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, said it was unfair to make Sithe pay the tax when it was not yet producing electricity. Steven Begay, the general manager of the Dine Power Authority, said revenue from the Desert Rock facility -- estimated at $50 million a year -- would be vital to the tribe because it will soon be losing revenue from mining companies that are shutting down their Navajo operations. Underground aquifers tapped for the plant also will benefit nearby communities with 450 acre-feet of water for livestock and household use, he said. "This is a project the (Navajo) Nation wants," Begay said. "If we add too much costs up front, we run the risk of the project not being viable. No amendments, please." Tsosie made it clear he thinks the committee has the right to make whatever changes it feels are necessary. "It's interesting that companies say we already have an agreement," he said to Begay and Minzer. "It presupposes that you bought a Legislature." Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or |