Calpine site still a go
Monday, December 12, 2005
centralohio.com
Despite negotiating a fiscal emergency in the national spotlight, a Calpine official said the fate of the incomplete Fremont Energy Center remains unaffected.
Nothing that has been in the news lately has had any direct impact on the plant,” said John Flumerfelt, a spokesperson in the company’s Boston office. “Obviously, it remains to be seen what impact that might have, but to date, there hasn’t been any change. We have not abandoned the project in any way, shape or form.”
The company is being sued by one its creditors, which is claiming Calpine improperly used $312 million from asset sales to buy natural gas, what the creditor says is an unapproved expense.
Flumerfelt said the $355 million Fremont Energy Station is scheduled to open in the summer of 2007, much later than originally anticipated.
We’re already running a couple of years behind, based on our construction slowdown,” Flumerfelt said.
The natural gas-powered plant will use water to create steam, which will then be converted to electricity. To meet Calpine’s anticipated demand, the city upgraded it water treatment facility and enhanced its water distribution system. City Safey Service Director Ken Myers said the company has paid its $19 million share of the bill.
Flumerfelt declined to say how many people are working at the 1275 Mairer Road site now.
I don’t think that’s something we want to disclose,” Flumerfelt said. “The construction has been slowed down significantly, and there are relatively few people at the site at this time.
He said the Fremont Energy Station is about 70 percent to 80 percent complete. This summer, company officials said the project was about 70 percent complete. Finishing the project, Flumerfelt said, will cost $100 million, an expense the company isn’t ready to fund.
It is important for us to decide what’s the best use of our money,” he said.
Since the company began the project several years ago, the energy market has made headlines for negative stories. Chief among them is the billion-dollar collapse of Enron that forced the Securities and Exchange Commission to rewrite financial-reporting laws.
Add to the mix that the price of natural gas has skyrocketed and Calpine has yet to find a customer for the 700-megawatt power station, which is capable of lighting about half a million homes.
An independent energy producer, Calpine has said possible clients include AEP, Toledo Edison parent FirstEnergy or a city-owned utility. |
