After heeding the advice of its consultants and local offices, the Burrillville Town Council unanimously agreed to oppose a proposed 1,000 megawatt power plant.
The council will ask other municipalities to stand with Burrillville in opposing the multimillion project backed by the governor, and business and labor groups.
Councilors offered several reasons why they oppose the power plant Chicago-based Invenergy proposes to build.
“To date the town has filed 18 data requests to Invenergy and they still have not identified a water source for this project,” read the town clerk on behalf of Councilor Kimberly Brissette Brown, who was absent.
“This proposal once was proposed for Ocean State Power – this location – it didn’t work then and it’s not going to work now,” said Councilor Steve Rawson.
“And based on the way this company has done business up to this point and their interactions with this town, that worries me more than anything else,” said Councilor David Place.
Council President John Pacheco III reiterated after the meeting that they all had to stay neutral to ensure council-appointed officials evaluated the project without any influence. But opposition among councilors has been “festering,” he said, for the past seven months.
“It has been very hard for this council to remain neutral with all the opposition,” said Pacheco. “We live here. These are our friends and neighbors. We’re all over this town. It’s hard to walk around this town and keep your lips shut.”
Ultimately, the state Energy Facility Siting Board has the final say, but Pacheco hopes other cities and towns step forward to support Burrillville and build more opposition.
“This is where the rubber hits the road now,” said Pacheco. “Hopefully we can affect the siting board to make the right decision and keep this monstrosity out of some of the most pristine places in the state.”
The unanimous decision got several standing ovations, but some residents were cautious to celebrate.
“Well, we’re very concerned that – in spite of the resolution – that the plant could obviously get sited here and that a tax treaty would pave the way for the plant,” said resident Erin Olkowski.
The town council and Invenergy have agreed on a tax treaty that includes $94 million in new revenue for the town. In a statement John Niland, Invenergy’s development director, said this illustrates the company’s “productive working relationship.”
The town council holds another hearing on Monday to go over this tax treaty with residents, and either approve or reject it. But rejecting the tax treaty is unlikely, as hinted by Pacheco.
“Past experience with the power plant we have in our town now says that it’s beneficial to have that tax agreement,” said Pacheco.
“Well that’s baloney,” said resident Raymond Trinque, who’s also a member of the Burrillville Sewer Commission.
Trinque described the opposition vote as “a bait and switch.” The council opposes the plant now, but he says the true test will be on Monday.
He believes the town could torpedo the project, even if the siting board approves the power plant, by rejecting the tax treaty, which he considers insufficient.
“It would be unbelievable the amount of money they’d have to pay,” said Trinque. “So the argument that they [councilors] would lose traction is just ridiculous. They would have so much leverage if in fact it was sited there… No treaty. No power plant.”
Trinque recalls more than 15 years ago North Smithfield was able to block a power plant proposal, because the town opposed the project from the start and rejected a tax agreement. He said in this case, signing a tax treaty before the project earns approval is “putting the cart before the horse.”
Niland said he understands the opposition vote is a response to a “vocal constituency in the community.” Nonetheless, he said the company looks forward to working with the town to address their questions and concerns.
