NGI Archives | NGI All News Access
Poor Market Conditions Leave NV Town Out of Gas
Off the beaten path of western energy and commerce superhighways, Elko, NV, is being left in the dust by natural gas pipeline and power plant developers since the wholesale market and many of its major practitioners suffered the retrenchment of the past 18 months.
Although the pipeline project has been dropped and the power plant is on hold, the major backers of the generation plant are reportedly reassessing their options. Hope continues to spring eternal that both the pipeline and the plant eventually will be built.
Even an aggressive plan from a local gold mining company wanting the added power and gas supplies has come to a halt as the lead developer, FPL Energy, has decided to hold up construction of a 430 MW plant 45 miles northwest of Elko in the northeast corner of the state. Earlier in the month, developments unraveled further, leaving the Elko officials disappointed again.
Two unnamed large potential electricity and gas customers pulled out earlier in September, according to Newmont Mining Corp., which was discussing plans to help FPL develop the new power plant in the Eureka Valley. The companies were hoping to have a plant in operation by October 2006. Newmont and another mining operator, Barrick Goldstrike, helped fund an initial study for the proposed 20-inch-diameter Ruby Gas Pipeline, since abandoned by Colorado Interstate.
The mining companies and Elko officials were seriously pursuing the combination of the gas pipeline and new power plant as a means of spurring more industrial development in their remote area, tucked between Reno and Salt Lake City, UT. According to reports in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Barrick may have been one of the two major power buyers to pull out.
Currently, the Newmont company would have to fund all of the cost of the proposed power plant, and a company spokesperson told the Review-Journal that the company is not willing to do that. Another spokesperson, for FPL Energy, said the merchant power plant developer will not build until it has “100% of the plant’s capacity” under contract.
©Copyright 2003 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.
© 2024 Natural Gas Intelligence. All rights reserved.
ISSN © 1532-1231 | ISSN © 2577-9877 |