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That is my view.

You are mistaken in your statement that they only have one plant. They purchased Connectiv for one and at last glance operates 18 plants in the area. And as far as water…..listening at the meeting last night this is a major concern. As it stands currently the City cannot support this amount of water without some pretty major upgrades. What about all the projects that have been constantly delayed due to budget restraints? Those continue to be delayed while the focus is now on upgrades to make this project happen. It was also stated about the noise. They compared the decibel level to that of a conversation. REALLY….a power plant to a conversation? Sorry not buying that. When I spoke to an individual about this that resides in the city in Connecticut, he stated practically daily there are complaints about steam and noise. The steam apparently is excessive and appears to look like fog in the area. Keeping in mind that noise levels depends on the person and how much they can take. The people that complained in CT went from privacy and quiet to noise. So comparatively speaking to them it sounds like noise at whatever level. The final thing to mention, as pointed out by the planning committee, all the things that is expected to be corrected or to initiate for this project now is done with coming before planning. Unless there is a major change. So basically we the people are left with the promises that DNREC, the City of Dover, and others involved that all requirements are met. And since the city is basically one of the applicants… it’s like the fox guarding the henhouse. Also keep an eye out for tax abatements. It would be sad that the city thinks they are getting a certain amount only for Calpine to come back and say we won’t build without the tax abatements and we end up with less than we thought for income.

    Copied below is a letter to the editor submitted to the Delaware State News. You can post your opinions by clicking on "Reply."

The [Dover] city council is going to give 6 MILLION tax dollars to Calpine so they can build an electricity-generating plant on CITY land.

Really, What do you think an industrial park is for?  Maybe it is to look pretty and grow a few crops on or put pretty panels up to that wonderful green feel.  My understanding is that it was for major businesses to have a place to come and pay for by lease or lot purchase.  They are not going to build on city owned land, they have to long term lease or purchase it like anyone else.  That is how an industrial park works.  It is called business.  Now whether or not the city should own such a park is another question, but we do.  Now is the time to make it work after all of these years by investing in the infrastructure of the park especially when someone else is basically paying for the needed upgrades.  

As for your question about gouging you a little more on the electric bills, in the long run another plant in the area lowers your electric bills.  In the short run, your bill will go down 12% due to other factors such as natural gas prices.  

The 6 million dollars that you speak of is needed investment in the city infrastructure that will not come out of general fund revenues.  It will be a bond that will be paid back from the enterprise funds which stand alone.  In fact, the revenue generated from the project will put us approximately 40 million dollars ahead of the curve over the course of the bond.  We have been trying to find a way to pay for the infrastructure to the Garrison track the state bought for us for about a decade.  Now we can.  This will not only benefit Calpine, but it will get us the infrastructure we need for to make the track viable.  

I think the Garrison Industrial Park has been a white elephant.  The money was invested to buy it and then little was done to make it actually worthwile to get industry at the park.  It had no infrastructure.  We need more than a farm and solar panels at the site.  The opportunity to get investment into it without any negative impact on our budget, to the contrary a two million dollar positive flow is sensible.

As for water infrastructrue, we are going to have to invest in rebuilding it.  Once again, it can needs to be done and we have a choice of a long run rate increase of 20 to 25% or expanding our customer base and having 0% increase while having a better system and increased capacity.  

This project is not a city project.  It is private business moving into the city with a needed service.  The city happens to be the landlord and utility provider.  That is why it is involved and the extent of its involvement.  All of this misinformation is staggering.  I wonder if some of the  people just make it up as they go along or are they just posing questions in the form of a statement.  I assume the latter which is why I am trying to take the time to address many of the objections point by point. Even if the critics were right that we were "giving" 6 million dollars by investing in upgrades to our own property and utility enterprises, the great law of reciprocity says you have to sow before you can reap.  If investing 6 million gets me 600 million, I am for that.  Fiscal responsibility is about making sure our future is secure by responsible spending not reckless spending, responsible investment, and responsible management of our resources.  We need to break the cycle of economic decline and tax increases.  We do that by growth.  I refuse to support any tax hikes.  We have had enough.  We need more economic diversity and private investment which will create more taxes the right way, having a prosperous economy. 

The plant will or will not be built based upon market conditions.  I hope that it is. Most of a billion dollars of private investment in our community is not a bad thing.  We need it. What we need to do is make sure we do not allow the government to get in the way.

Mr. Anderson,

Do you know from where Calpine will be getting their natural gas?