The balloons over Carlsbad’s new power plant
June 16th, 2008 Categories: Carlsbad Business Community, Carlsbad City, Carlsbad Community Events
CARLSBAD– Currently there are big green balloons floating over Carlsbad on the east side of I-5 just south of Tamarack. The reason for the balloons are to help the ‘story poles’ standout that have been set up to show the location and size of the proposed new power plant by NRG West.
The new plant would be an air cooled plant so would not necessarily need the proximity to the lagoon as is necessary for the existing plant. It is water cooled. The city of Carlsbad website says that if this happens that the existing plant and smoke stack would remain, however city of Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis is on record acknowledging that the old plant would be removed.( After a phone call to the city, this information is being removed from the site)
“When the (existing) plant is removed, of course, that opens up that whole area to recreation and a hotel site,” Mayor Bud Lewis said.-North County Times, 9/20/2007.
The city is currently on record as opposing the construction on the new plant on NRG’s existing property and is hoping to persuade them to build on an inland site. However these two sites do not have the existing infrastructure such as the high tension lines and towers or the fuel supply lines. Additionally, one of the sites is next to the Ocean Hills retirement community of Vista, while the other site near the Oaks North industrial center is in the flight path of Palomar McClellen airport.
On NRG’s side of issue the city is looking less than the partner it should be. The city lobbied NRG to give Poseidon property on the power plant to build the proposed desalinization plant. Now having lobbied hard to get the desal 
plant built there is question why the city would want one type of plant and not another on the site.
The city’s preference for one industry on the coast, but not another, may be a problem with the California Energy Commission, one expert said.
“If you’re going to give a thumbs up to a desalination plant, it’s a hard sell to say you don’t like a state-of-the-art air-cooled plant,” said Bill Powers of Powers Engineering, a local energy consultant.– San Diego Union Tribune, 5–17–2008
Additionally, David Lloyd an executive with NRG West, questioned at a council meeting why the council was now speaking out against the plant when,”the city’s own South Carlsbad Coastal Redevelopment Area document calls for building a new station on the proposed site.”
The bottom line here is that NRG opened a door and initially the city liked what they saw. However the give an inch take a mile scenario is coming in to play. The city now wants ALL the land. Is there value in this land absolutely, but I suggest a better alternative. Leave the project as is and 
get the land you can and develop it appropriately. Do not make the heavy community concessions the city would need to make to get NRG to move.
The land considered less desirable lets build a nice large community of single family homes that fall under affordable housing guidelines. This would show the compassion of the council not the greed.
2 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
[…] run course is also pretty flat with a turnaround almost even with the smokestack of the power plant. The biggest thing to keep in mind with the run course is you leave T2 on the flat boardwalk. […]
Pingback by Carlsbad triathlon course preview — July 8, 2008 #
[…] CARLSBAD– Seven regional Mayors, including Carlsbad’s Bud Lewis, got together and held a news conference Friday to ask the California Coastal Commission to finalize the conditional permit it approved in November of 2007 for the Carlsbad desalinization plant. The plant would be built on the site of the current Encinas power plant which I have written about here and here. […]
Pingback by Mayor’s back Carlsbad Desal Plant — August 2, 2008 #