ROCKLAND, Maine — The City Council is expected to vote later this month to terminate its option with a natural gas plant developer, ending an agreement that has been met with considerable opposition from area residents.
City Manager James Chaousis said Thursday that the city has yet to have a discussion with Rockland Energy Center about its plans; thus, there is simply not enough time to reach a purchase and sales agreement before the option is set to expire Jan. 28.
Last May, councilors authorized the city manager to negotiate and execute an option agreement between the city and Rockland Energy on approximately 18 acres of adjacent city-owned parcels, where City Hall and the public services garage are located. That agreement was signed Aug. 1, with the developer paying the city $1,000 per month for the land purchase option.
The company has said it was interested in constructing a $200 million plant that would use natural gas to generate electricity to be sold on the power grid and steam that could be used by local industries.
Amy Files of Renew Rockland welcomed the news. The citizen group has lobbied for options other than fossil fuels for energy use in the community and had opposed the natural gas proposal. Several residents criticized the use of natural gas and expressed concern about emissions.
“The city council and city manager are doing their job to protect Rockland from a rushed business deal,” Files said.
The city manager said Rockland Energy Center has agreed to mutually terminate the option early. The council is scheduled to vote on the termination of the option agreement at its Dec. 14 meeting.
Chaousis said the lack of talks with the energy company meant the city was unable to answer basic questions that citizens were asking. He added that under the current political climate, with the opposition that the proposed project had generated, he did not expect the city would consider another option with the company for the property.
The proposed natural gas plant faced several hurdles before it could have been constructed. If the city had reached a purchase and sales agreement with the company, a referendum would have been held at which time voters would get to decide on the sale of the city-owned land. The company also would have needed state and federal environmental permits.
The natural gas line also would have to be extended to Rockland. The closest the pipeline comes to Rockland is Windsor.
Rockland Energy also would have needed approval from the Maine Public Utilities Commission of long-term contracts to sell electricity generated from the plant either to Emera Maine or Central Maine Power.
Since the Rockland Energy had been looking at other properties in Rockland, it was unclear what loss of the option on the city-owned land would mean for the proposed development moving forward.
Rockland Energy could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning.