Jun 20, 2018 3 min read

A company that has proposed constructing a 620-megawatt natural gas power plant near Nemacolin in Cumberland Township will seek final approval for its plans next month from Cumberland Township Planning Commission.

Plans for the plant, which will be built on a 41-acre site off Thomas Road by Hill Top Energy Center LLC of Huntington Bay, N.Y., will be considered at a commission meeting at 7 p.m. July 2 in the township municipal building.

The company has been working on the project for about the last three years and has already received an air quality permit and other required state permits to proceed with the plans.

The township planning commission, in addition, earlier reviewed project plans and granted it preliminary approval, said Ann Bargerstock, township code enforcement officer.

The company had numerous requirements to address before the commission could grant final approval, she said. “They’ve moved forward in a positive way to complete all the criteria they needed to,” Bargerstock said.

Once the plans receive final approval from the planning commission, they will be turned over to the township engineer for review and the issuance of a building permit.

A company spokesman could not be reached Tuesday for comment, but company officials earlier said they hope to begin construction in early 2019.

The power plant will be built on property owned by Greene Energy Resources Recovery, an affiliate of which had attempted about 15 years ago to construct a coal waste-fired power plant at the site.

The property also adjoins the site of AGRiMED Industries’ medical marijuana growing operation.

Several public meetings, including a public hearing by the state Department of Environmental Protection on the power plant’s air quality permit, have been held since the project was first announced in early 2016 and drew no major opposition.

Company officials have said the plant will be one of the cleanest natural gas plants in the country.

The plant is considered a “minor source” in regard to hazardous air pollutants. However, because the area is designated a “nonattainment area” for ozone, the company was required to purchase credits for nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compound emissions under a system used to regulate those ozone-causing pollutants.

The plant is expected to create about 250 construction jobs and about 450 at peak construction. Once in operation, it will employ 20 to 30 people, the company said.

The plant is one of two natural gas power plants now planned for Greene County. The other is a 1,000-megawatt plant proposed by APV Renaissance Partners Opco LLC to be constructed at the site of the closed Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station. The company is currently seeking state permits for the project.