Merchant Plants, Coast to Coast

Fortnightly Magazine - January 1 1999
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Applications filed to date in New England and California.

New England and California are hotbeds of merchant plant activity, as shown by a list of proposed projects submitted for certification with the appropriate state agencies as of early November. In New England alone, some 63 projects totaling generation of more than 31,000 megawatts (and growing) were proposed. It is generally understood, however, that of the 31,000 MW of generating capacity represented by those projects, only 7,000 to 8,000 MW will be built.

New England. As shown in the first table, opposite page, only some of the applications for projects in New England have been filed with the governing body for the state in which the plants are to be built. Whenever the information could be confirmed, the table indicates (in the column marked Description, Status) whether the sponsor has applied for certification to the appropriate state agency. In Massachusetts, that body is the Energy Facilities Siting Board, which falls under the jurisdiction state's Department of Telecommunications and Energy, led by chair Janet Gail Besser. In Connecticut, it's the Siting Council. New Hampshire has a Site Evaluation Committee, which is comprised of representatives from the various state agencies. Companies who wish to build in Maine, which has no siting body, need only apply to the Department of Environmental Protection.

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