Op Center : Kings River Conservation District

Kings River Conservation District

Fresno County, California

BACKGROUND

In pursuit of its vision of reliable power for the central San Joaquin Valley, the Kings River Conservation District is proposing to construct the KRCD Community Power Plant. It will be a clean combined-cycle power plant, fueled by natural gas, the fuel of choice for power plants in the state of California. This 565-megawatt, base-load power plant is in the permitting process. Construction is expected to start in 2009, ending in 2011.

The KRCD Community Power Plant is one of the potential generation resources for the Community Choice program, along with other resources including renewable energy. The KRCD Community Power Plant will be the first sizable plant built in the central San Joaquin Valley since the commissioning of Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Helm's Plant in 1984.

By a 5-0 vote on December 5, 2007, the California Energy Commission (CEC) started the licensing review process for the KRCD Community Power Plant. The CEC has determined that the Application for Certification of the planned KRCD Community Power Plant submitted at the end of September is "data adequate," meaning the CEC has enough information to begin the 12-month permitting process for the project.

However, the California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), one of the leading practitioners of greenmail-type extortion against power plant projects across the state, has already positioned itself to demand a union-only workforce on the KRCD plant.

KEY POINTS

• Public agency tax-exempt financing
• Higher paying local jobs
• New natural gas line to spur economic growth
• Fuel efficient, emissions-friendly technology
• Reliance on reclaimed water for environmental conservation

For more information, please click here.

And please read this excellent article from The Business Journal.