For more than 20 years, a company based in Omaha called Tenaska has operated quietly in Fluvanna County – producing power that it sells to the grid. It uses water from the James River basin to cool the facility, and burns natural gas which produces some air pollution.
Sharon Harris is director of Community Voices – a non-profit she started a year ago to cover local news. She says area residents are worried that a second gas-burning plant could be hazardous to local health.
“We do know that in 2019, the health survey that was done in conjunction with the hospital found that Fluvanna has higher rates of asthma and pulmonary diseases than our neighboring counties.”
The company says it complies with all state and federal regulations governing air quality, and has purchased 350 wooded acres around its site to limit noise pollution.
The new plant would require 6-7 million gallons of water a day, but Tenaska says that’s less than one percent of what flows through the James.
The firm argues more energy is needed to ensure the reliability of our regional grid, in part because a growing number of data centers need so much power, and it claims the new generating station will provide the county with nearly $250 million in tax revenue over a 30-year period.
Fluvanna County’s Board of Supervisors signed an agreement not to talk about the deal and is set to vote November 19th.
