Tres Amigas plant takes another step forwardMay 4 - Robin Fornoff Clovis News Journal, N.M.
The long awaited and much delayed Tres Amigas electric power superstation is again poised to take a giant leap toward becoming reality in Clovis. If all goes as planned, according to City Manager Joe Thomas, the Clovis City Commission will be asked May 16 to approve a 30-year, $1.6 billion Industrial Revenue Bond (IRB) issue to fund building Tres Amigas about 10 miles north of Clovis. Thomas said the bond issue will be presented for consideration as a new ordinance and public hearings will be held in ensuing weeks. He said the earliest the ordinance could be considered for a vote would be the city commission's June 20 meeting. Additionally, Curry County Manager Lance Pyle said he is planning to present a proposed franchise agreement with Tres Amigas to county commissioners at their meeting Tuesday. The agreement would allow Tres Amigas to use county right of way land as part of the superstation designed to link the nation's three major electric power grids. Thomas said the IRB wouldn't obligate the city for any of the $1.6 billion, nor affect the city's credit rating. Tres Amigas would be obligated to sell the bonds and raise the money authorized by the ordinance. The city would remain the owner of the property for the 30-year term of bond, Thomas said. IRBs are an inducement devised to get around the anti-donation clause in the New Mexico Constitution, which forbids donations of public cash to private enterprise. The Tres Amigas IRB is similar to one the city approved in 2009 to bring Southwest Cheese to the area. The $1.6 billion Tres Amigas IRB is largely a legal device allowing the city to abate or forgive as much as 100 percent of the estimated $230 million in property and gross receipts taxes Tres Amigas would otherwise be obligated to pay over the 30-year life of the bond issue. In exchange for not paying taxes, Tres Amigas would make payments in lieu of taxes to the city, county and school districts including Clovis and Texico, Thomas said. Thomas and Clovis Industrial Development Corp. Executive Director Chase Gentry said they couldn't immediately provide specific numbers of the payments in lieu of taxes. Those amounts are apparently still part of ongoing negotiations between the city and Tres Amigas. Tres Amigas didn't respond to several attempts for comment on the pending IRB. But spokespersons for the company have said construction of the facility, largely a transfer point for the three major grids, would immediately create 400-450 temporary jobs and 15 permanent jobs locally. Tres Amigas has been beset by delays and has missed several projected ground breakings, including its estimate earlier this year to break ground by April. Tres Amigas executives have said part of the problem is the plan is unique. No one has ever attempted to link the three major grids. But the company's plan to redistribute excess power once it links those grids has raised political opposition in Texas. Texas owns and operates its own electric power grid, ERCOT. Tres Amigas is expected to spawn new wind energy business here and across the Panhandle. There is concern in Texas that wind energy produced within its borders will end up being siphoned and sold by Tres Amigas to other states, resulting in higher electrical costs to Texas consumers. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=28484163 |