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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Energy Company says $3.5 billion will fund proposed energy complex
By sstamper @ 2:32 PM :: 834 Views :: 3 Comments ::

Energy: Company says $3.5 billion will fund proposed energy complex
Idaho Press Tribune
By Lee Vander Boegh
lvanderboegh@idahopress.com

BRUNEAU — Alternate Energy Holdings and Cobblestone Financial Group have reached an agreement that could bring the proposed 1,600-megawatt nuclear-powered Idaho Energy Complex closer to reality and closer to home — Bruneau, to be exact.

According to a Alternate Energy Holdings press release, Cobblestone Financial Group has committed to fund 100 percent of the complex — which is expected to cost about $3.5 billion.

The financial agreement brings Alternate Energy Holdings one step closer to building the nation’s first nuclear power plant in nearly three decades. Alternate Energy Holdings president and CEO Don Gillispie said the financing demonstrates two things. One, a full investment proves the company’s legitimacy. And two, it makes the Idaho Energy Complex the only nuclear power plant on the drawing board that enjoys full financing.

Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with Idaho landowner and businessman James Hilliard for Hilliard’s 4,000 acres near Bruneau. Rather than sell the land, Hilliard opted to invest in the company by way of yielding his property.

Gillispie is still working on local and federal approval, but remains optimistic the plant will move forward. He expects Owyhee County to make a decision in July. He said he has been making presentations and answering questions from locals, and his plans have been well-received. “I think if we ran a poll we’d be at about 78 percent (in favor),” Gillispie said.

Assuming the company gets county approval, the next step is approval from the federal government — a process that could cost up to $100 million and take several years. But if it goes well, the Idaho Energy Complex could be producing 1,600 megawatts of energy and provide an estimated 500 full-time jobs by 2013

Comments

By st1 @ Monday, July 23, 2007 10:16 AM

i am looking forward to this opportunity coming to idaho. i believe it will be a tremendous asset to the area creating more jobs and opportunities for the people and families of this great state.

By X @ Wednesday, September 05, 2007 7:39 AM

It will be a sad day for Idaho and for The United States if this ever gets built. We should be as actively opposing this project as Germany and China are working to get out of the nuclear energy industry.

As far as jobs go, Idaho's employment rate is the highest its ever been and the unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the nation. We don't need the jobs.

Nor do we need the energy. As Idahoans, we should be actively seeking sustainable, renewable energy solutions such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass to ideally replace and at a minimum supplement our dependence on fossil fuels.

Come on, Idaho! Let's tell Don and the world that we aren't going to bend over and take it! We will not fund their retirements, nor allow them to rape our natural resources in order to ship energy out of state (which is what they would have to do because Idaho doesn't need it!).

They are trying to take advantage of us because they think we are uneducated, backwoods ranchers, farmers and extremists. But they have underestimated us and we will not let them take advantage of us.

By J Marsden @ Thursday, September 06, 2007 10:42 AM

Just for the record, China is not pulling out of nuclear. They currently have six new nuclear power reactors under construction with about 10 already in operation. They have stated many times that they are fully committed to nuclear power.

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