Summit impact

It’s been documented that Summit Power Group Inc.’s Texas Clean Energy Project could bring more than 1,200 construction jobs to the Permian Basin for three years after work starts there in late 2010. And once the $1.7 billion coal gasification power plant opens in 2014, 150 people would have permanent jobs at the site planned for Penwell.

But, perhaps more impressive, a total of 8,000 jobs could be created as a result of the 400 megawatt plant, said Laura Miller, Texas projects manager for Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based Summit. And, while not all of those would be in West Texas, many area industries would benefit.

The Summit plant is designed to capture 90 percent of the carbon dioxide it produces. That CO2 is to be marketed for enhanced oil recovery in the Permian Basin, which Miller said would help add jobs in the area.

Additionally, manufacturing of pipeline and other equipment, technology and other ancillary services will pick up, Miller said.

And, while some people may be brought in from other areas, Miller said people with experience at area power plants, the Odessa Petrochemical Complex and elsewhere would be considered for permanent jobs at Summit.

"I would hope that with all the oilfield experience and geologic experts, most of the plant jobs would be filled by local people," she said.

And people in Odessa are preparing for the increase in opportunities.

Lucinda Hurlbut, Odessa College’s continuing education director, said that, although the school hadn’t discussed training for jobs with Summit, it is something it would be interested in.

"We’re always looking for opportunities to partner with business and industry," she said. "I can’t tell you yes, definitely, but I can tell you that will certainly be pursued, and we will make every effort to offer some of that training locally."

The permanent jobs will be important ones for Odessa, said Gary Vest, economic development director for the Odessa Chamber of Commerce.

"These will really be high-tech, professional-type jobs," he said. "These will be very prominent jobs in the community."

Along with employees, the plant could bring visitors from around the globe, Vest said. With a 250-year supply of coal and efforts to control greenhouse gases, the Summit plant could show the way to making the continued use of coal viable.

"This is a commercial project to make money, but it’s also a demonstration," he said.

Visitors from China, where they have been opening traditional coal plants at a rate of up to one per week, and elsewhere could come to the Permian Basin, meaning business for hotels, restaurants and other businesses.

Miller agrees.

"There’s no power plant in the world today that captures the cabob dioxide that our plant will capture," she said. "I think people will want to know how West Texas went from zero capture to 90 percent.

"I’ve traveled far and wide to see the best technology out there. That’s the thing people do," she said.

Ector County Commissioner Freddie Gardner said having a large construction site in Penwell, 20 miles west of Odessa, could mean good things in particular for areas west of downtown Odessa. Gardner, whose precinct includes the Penwell site, also said the project would benefit the entire county by improving its tax base,

"It probably would have people looking for housing," Gardner said. "In that sense of the word, it would probably help West Odessa and even help Goldsmith."

It could also be an incentive for long dreamed of projects to materialize.

The coal for the Summit project would be mined in the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming and transported by rail to the Permian Basin, said Mike George, the Odessa Chamber’s chief executive officer. Since there is no north-south rail line currently running through Odessa, that means it would likely have to be hauled to Sweetwater, then switched to the east-west Union Pacific line that heads to Odessa.

The La Entrada al Pacifico Rural Rail Transportation District has sought for years to build a north-south rail line connecting existing railroads in Seagraves and McCamey. George said an economic feasibility study four years ago determined that such a line would only get 30 percent of the use needed to justify it. But he is hopeful that the Summit plant would create enough revenue to justify at least the construction of the northern portion of the line.

And by helping lead to the construction of more rail lines, the Summit plant could indirectly lead to even more industry and jobs coming to Odessa, George said.

"A north-south line adds competition in freight rates to the current east-west line," he said.

Additionally, the project could help with landing more highway projects for the area, said James Beauchamp, executive director of the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance. While other parts of the state have used toll roads and other methods to get road funding, the Permian Basin has avoided doing so.

But the Summit project, and the economic impact it will have statewide, could give the area "leverage" in finding more of the scarce dollars allocated by the Texas Department of Transportation and other agencies, Beauchamp said.

"It’s also good for the entire state," he said. "It gives us an opportunity to compete on a statewide level for those funds, whether it’s for transportation or anything else."

But the project will include financial sacrifices on the city’s part. Vest said the Odessa Development Corp, which is funded by a quarter-cent sales tax, will likely have to give Summit a $5 million cash grant. The agreement will include a stipulation that Summit give "priority" to local contractors.

Vest said that, while Summit is likely to use an out-of-town builder as the general contractor of the plant because there aren’t many local companies that can complete a job of this size, he is keeping a list of potential local subcontractors the company could use.

"That’s about all we can do," Vest said.

The city will also be responsible for connecting a water and sewer line to the site, which could cost $20 million, Vest said.

But with the effect it will have on the tax bases for the county, school district and other entities, the billions of barrels of oil that CO2 from the plant could help recover and the jobs the plant would create, area officials feel Summit will get local and state support.

"That’s a tremendous selling point," Beauchamp said.

The project has already gotten government help. The construction process was set in motion after Summit received a $350 million Clean Coal Power Initiative Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, which was announced Dec. 4. And the company is expected to be the beneficiary of a law passed by the Texas Legislature earlier this year that awards up to $100 million in franchise tax credits to the first three companies to build power plants in the state that capture at least 70 percent of the CO2 they produces.

Miller said improvements to Midland International Airport might even be necessary to deal with all the traffic coming in because of the Summit plant. There is one change in particular that the former Dallas mayor is calling for.

"As long as you have a Starbucks at the airport — I’m happy," she said.