Feb 18 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Bethany Bray Andover Townsman, Mass.



Opponents to the Billerica Energy Center, a natural gas-burning power plant proposed for the Billerica/Tewksbury town lines, are breathing easier this month after investors abandoned the project.

Prevailing winds blow northeast from the plant's proposed location in North Billerica, near Interstate 495, and environmental studies had shown that plant emissions, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter would have wafted over Tewksbury into Andover airspace.

This month, Texas-based Montgomery Power Partners, the major investor behind the plant, notified Independent System Operator-New England, a regional transmission organization that operates the power grid for New England, that they no longer want to continue with the Billerica project.

The news is especially poignant after a natural gas-fueled power plant being construction exploded in Middletown, Conn. on Feb. 7, killing five workers.

 The Billerica plant, which would have operated during peak times of energy use, burning natural gas with diesel fuel as a backup, was met with strong opposition from several community groups. The 348-megawatt facility would have operated on a 13.8-acre site, with eight engine turbine blocks and 80-foot smoke stacks.

"It's a relief for residents, absolutely," said Paige Impink, a Tewksbury resident involved with www.billericapowerplant.org, a citizens opposition group.

"ISO New England has shown that there is sufficient (energy) supply for the demand in our region through 2017 in their latest report ... The demand for energy will always be there, and will increase as the population increases. But the way we meet the demand has a great opportunity to be improved."

Besides the Billerica plant's pollution, residents were concerned with stress on infrastructure, local police and fire departments and the safety of nearby homes and schools.

"The fact of the matter is (explosions) can happen, and tragically five people lost their lives ... The Billerica plant was going to be unmanned, remotely monitored from a control room in Lowell. That's even more scary, when you think of the Middletown situation (in Connecticut)," said Impink. "The closest homes in to the Billerica site were several hundred feet away. They (the plant's developer) would constantly downplay residents' concerns, it was so frustrating. People had a reason to be concerned."

The economic downturn was the main reason for the investors to leave the Billerica project, said Impink, aided by growing interest in alternative energy sources and citizen resistance to the project.

In October 2008, her organization hosted a well-attended public forum at Memorial Hall Library, answering questions from Andover residents about the proposed plant. Her organization will continue to work on informing residents about health and environmental issues, said Impink.

"We saw a wonderful partnership, a sense of community, between the different towns (surrounding the Billerica plant) -- understanding that even though this wasn't within our own border, it was going to affect us," said Impink.

(c) 2010, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services