House committee passes bill giving Burrillville residents ability to approve tax agreement for power plant

A RENDERING of the proposed natural gas-powered electrical plant in Burrillville. / COURTESY INVENERGY LLC
A RENDERING of the proposed natural gas-powered electrical plant in Burrillville. / COURTESY INVENERGY LLC

(Updated 3:23 p.m.)
PROVIDENCE – The House Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday passed a bill that could have a major impact on the future of the proposed power plant in Burrillville.
The legislation, introduced by state Rep. Cale P. Keable, D-Burrillville, would give Burrillville residents the authority to approve any tax agreement established by the Town Council for a power plant located in town. The law would likely have a direct impact on the Chicago-based company Invenergy Thermal Development LLC, which has proposed to build a 1,000-megawatt, natural-gas-fueled power plant in Burrillville.
“For power plants, as large-scale development projects with high capital costs, its commonplace to request tax-stabilization agreements from local taxing authorities,” said Jake Bissaillon, deputy communications director for House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello.
The $700 million power plant, known formally as the Clear River Energy Center, is being considered by the state’s three-member Energy Facility Siting Board, and has sparked contentious debate between opponents – largely comprising Burrillville residents and environmentalists – and labor unions and developers that argue in favor of the project.
Keable and state Sen. Paul W. Fogarty, D-Glocester, both represent Burrillville and earlier this year came out publicly against the power plant.
The duo subsequently introduced legislation in both houses of the General Assembly. Fogarty’s bill currently sits in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Keable’s legislation, if enacted, would also expand the Energy Facility Siting Board from three members to seven members for any projects proposed after June 1. The Burrillville power plant was proposed last fall.
The House committee passed the legislation with an 11-2 vote.

Invenergy, in a statement, called the proposed legislation a “thinly veiled attack,” adding that it gives Burrillville unprecedented power unavailable to other Rhode Island municipalities. The company also points to existing Rhode Island law that provides the town’s elected officials the authority to enter into a 25-year tax stabilization agreement with power-generation facilities, which it says is typical of several other Rhode Island communities.
“It could also set a dangerous precedent that would dissuade other companies from investing in or growing in Rhode Island,” according to the company. “This bill would send the message that Rhode Island is closed for business.”

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