Prince George’s in-development Keys Energy Center promises to produce enough power for 500,000 homes and under a new Payment In Lieu of Taxes agreement, will help support public services across the County. As announced in the Prince George’s County Press Release:
“Since taking office four years ago, my Administration has been committed to growing the County’s commercial tax base and creating jobs – this project significantly addresses those promises,” said Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III. “I want to thank Council Chair Mel Franklin and the Prince George’s County Council for their endorsement of this project. I also want to thank Genesis Power and the Keys Energy Center for their investment in the Prince George’s County economy and, most importantly, for their outreach to and garnering of support from the communities impacted by this project. In addition to its profound economic impacts, this project will also generate enough power for 500,000 homes, making it critically important to the overall energy infrastructure and grid capacity of our county, state and nation.”
According to the terms of the two PILOTs, the Keys Energy Center will save an equivalent amount in taxes, creating the financial opportunity for the company to build a 735 megawatt natural gas fired combined cycle electricity generating plant in Brandywine. The plant will employ over 400 individuals during construction and 25 during operation. Furthermore, Keys Energy made a significant commitment to the hiring of local workers as part of the PILOT agreements.
The Baltimore Business Journal notes that the power plant will be the highest assessed value development in county come 2017:
Keys Energy Center, a subsidiary of Genesis Power LLC, is a planned 780Mw combined cycle, natural gas-fired electric power generating facility located on 30 acres of a 170-acre parcel 1.25 miles east Brandywine. The estimated assessed value of the plant, which will generate enough electricity, according to Genesis, to power roughly 500,000 homes, will be $627 million. And Prince George’s has laid out a hefty incentive package to ensure Genesis can pull this off.The County Council on Nov. 6 approved a payment in lieu of taxes for the plant project, under which Genesis will pay Prince George’s $43.4 million over 18 years, roughly half of what it would have paid with no tax break. The Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission will receive $12.7 million over the life of the PILOT. The annual PILOT payments decline year-over-year as a result of plant depreciation.
For more information read the Prince George’s County Press Release and full article in The Baltimore Business Journal.