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Vote on Greenport power plant agreement delayed, for now

Hawkeye power plant GreenportThe Greenport Village Board of Trustees put off a vote Friday on a proposed lease with Global Common, the Garden City company looking to build a peak energy power plant on about three acres of village-owned land on Moore’s Lane.

But following an hour-and-20-minute executive session to negotiate the contract, Mayor George Hubbard said that the changes agreed to are beneficial to the village and that the board will release the new details either Monday or Tuesday and then call a special meeting to vote on the contract at a later date.

“We’re real close to a deal,” he said.

The proposed power plant would sell energy to PSEG Long Island at peak power usage times, and is not expected to operate more than 2,000 hours per year, according to officials.

Global Common is responding to a request for proposals from PSEG Long Island for new energy generation on the South Folk.

The proposed Moore’s Lane facility would connect to the South Fork through a cable through Shelter Island, although it has yet to be determined if that will work, according to Global Common President Bob Foxen.

He said if their studies determine the Shelter Island cable is not sufficient, the proposed power plant in Greenport likely will not proceed.

If the lease ultimately is approved, Global Common would then have to perform an engineering study, make a formal proposal to PSEG Long Island by Nov. 13 and complete the development of the plant at its own expense, officials said.

What’s in it for Greenport? Money.

The draft contract with Global Common that was released last week estimates the plant would pay the village $208,000 in rent and would generate $574,746 in property taxes, of which $87,070 would be village taxes, if it were generating 26 mW in 2022.

The plant would be expected to be producing 69 mW by 2030. Rent to the village would increase to $552,000 and property tax payments would rise to $1.62 million annually. Of that total, $328,774 would be village taxes.

Mr. Hubbard said the changes agreed to in executive session make those numbers a little more beneficial to the village, although he didn’t give specific numbers.

The rent on the property is $8,000 per megawatt, per year, according to the draft agreement. The rent payments will also escalate based on the Consumer Price Index, it states.

The site on Moore’s Lane is the site of the former Southold Town Scavenger Waste Facility, officials said.

Caption: An existing power plant on Moore’s Lane was originally built by Global Commons. It is now owned by Hawkeye Energy.