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Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions


 
Q: Who is Competitive Power Ventures?
A:

Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) is an energy company that develops, builds, and manages electricity generation facilities across the country. CPV’s corporate mission is built around a belief that progressive companies can be powerful agents of change for a better world and a cleaner environment. To this end, we have focused our core activities on developing and operating energy facilities that make a significant difference in improving the environments and economic circumstances of the regions in which they are located.

Headquartered in Silver Spring, MD, with offices in Braintree, MA, San Francisco, CA, and Toronto, Canada the company currently has nearly 5,100 megawatts (MW) of conventional generation projects in various stages of development. The company’s Asset Management division has more than 4,700 MW of natural gas generation under management and has recently expanded its expertise into ethanol plant management and wind farm management. CPV is also developing nearly 1,400 MW of wind power projects across North America, with plans for more and has expanded its portfolio to include solar power generation.

Q: What is CPV St. Charles?
A: CPV St. Charles is a highly efficient, 600 MW state-of-the-art combined-cycle natural gas electrical generating facility. The proposed location is in Charles County, MD, on land zoned for industrial use, previously permitted for a power plant, between high-voltage transmission lines and next to a landfill and an asphalt plant. By contributing to the region’s growing need for electricity, CPV St. Charles will help prevent the rolling power blackouts which have occurred as a result of electricity shortages in other power-starved regions
Q: What is a Combined Cycle Electric Generator?
A: A Combined-Cycle Electric Generator generates electricity from natural gas. The waste heat is captured and used to make steam that will generate additional electricity in a steam turbine. This highly efficient, state-of-the art technology will generate local, cleaner electricity that reduces dependence on older, less efficient power plants and is better for our environment.
Q. Why did CPV pick this location for the facility?
A. This location was already fully permitted by the State for a power facility and has great support from the community. The site also owned an advanced queue position within the PJM Generation Queue giving the facility an opportunity to get online quickly enough to help prevent the forecasted electricity short fall.
Q. How big will the plant be?
A. CPV St. Charles is a 725 MW facility that will occupy about 20 acres on a 77-acre site in an industrial zone which has long been set aside for an energy facility and which was previously fully permitted by another power company. It will generate enough electricity to power approximately 700,000 homes.
Q. What is involved in getting permission to build a plant in Maryland? Is it a “done deal”?
A. For any person to build an energy facility or transmission line greater than 69 kV in Maryland, a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) must be obtained from the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC).

As part of this licensing process, applicants must address a full range of environmental, engineering, socioeconomic, planning, and cost issues. The Power Plant Siting Act of 1971, augmented by the Electric Utility Industry Restructuring Act of 1999, provides for a consolidated review of CPCN applications in Maryland. The Power Plant Research Program (PPRP) is responsible for managing that review and bringing to the PSC a consolidated set of licensing recommendations. This is the only process within the State regulatory framework that allows a comprehensive review of all electric power issues, with the goal of balancing the tradeoffs required to provide needed electrical power at reasonable cost while protecting the State’s valuable natural resources.

CPV received a Final Non-Appealable CPCN from the PSC in December, 2008 and also fully executed the Development Agreement with the County giving CPV the right to construct the facility.
Q. What is the process for community involvement during the review?
A. CPV Maryland held community meetings in which CPV Maryland representatives met with community members to hear their concerns in an attempt to address the community's concerns during the development process. During the Maryland Public Service Commission's (PSC) Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) permit process, the public had the opportunity to intervene in the proceeding, speak at a public comment hearing, and submit comments to the PSC.   Additionally, through the process of drafting a development agreement with Charles County, the County and CPV Maryland took the community's points of view into consideration.
Q. What kind of tax benefits will there be for the community?
A. CPV will make fixed payments to the County in lieu of the Property, Personnel, Fire, Rescue and Emergency Medical Services Taxes. In addition CPV will pay for treated reclaimed water utilized in the cooling process. The estimated total of these sources of revenue is approximately $56 million in a 15 year time span. CPV St. Charles will be one of the largest taxpayers in Charles county and the generated revenue collected from taxes and the sale of treated effluent water will be a major, long term source of additional funding for infrastructure improvement projects and other services to Charles County citizens.
Q. How will the proposed plant affect air quality?
A. The project is designed to minimize emissions of pollutants. The combined-cycle facility will be fueled by natural gas, the cleanest burning fossil fuel, and will also include additional emissions control equipment to further reduce the emissions. The facility will be modern and highly efficient, and thus can be used to displace older, less efficient, coal-burning power plants which currently supply a majority of the region’s power. Because of all these factors, the net effect of the CPV plant will be to improve air quality.
Q. Will the facility be noisy during operations?
A. Modern energy generating facilities are surprisingly quiet and this facility will be required to meet all local and state noise quality standards.
Q. Where will the water come from to operate the plant? How much will be needed?
A. The facility’s innovative design will prevent it from being a strain on local water resources by employing a cooling system that utilizes reclaimed water from the Mattawoman Waste Water Treatment Facility. The County will collect revenue from the sale of this water and CPV’s use will reduce the amount of waste water sent back to the Potomac River. The facility will use a peak of 5 million gallons a day (MGD) of reclaimed water and an average of 3 MGD of reclaimed water. Minimal groundwater will also be used for the steam cycle makeup.
Q. Where will the natural gas come from to run the facility?
A. The Natural Gas will come from Dominion via their Cove Point LNG terminal or their existing pipeline in the area.
Q. Will the plant contribute to Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF)?
A. CPV’s experience is that any localized EMF due to the facility is marginal and more importantly, is confined to the areas immediately around the generation turbines within the facility. The very short transmission line that will be needed to interconnect to the existing lines will be constructed so as to minimize any fields even though it will not be near any inhabited locations.
Q. Will the plant be safe? Will local fire departments be able to comment on an emergency response plan?
A. Yes. The proposed facility utilizes a proven technology used throughout North America and the world to generate electricity without incident. Safety is a top corporate priority for all CPV facilities. The design, construction and operation of equipment and systems for the proposed project will be in accordance with all local and state regulations and will include state-of-the-art fire detection, alarm, suppression, and control systems. The local fire department will be able to comment on the emergency response plan.
Q. How many construction and operations jobs would this project create? Will they be hired locally?
A. At peak construction, there will be approximately 350-400 workers on site, and strong efforts will be made to use local labor and materials to the greatest extent possible. Once operational, the facility staff size will be somewhere around 30 full-time well paying jobs with an average annual salary exceeding $55,000.
Q. How many trucks per day will be coming to and from the site during construction?
A. While it’s hard to determine the number of trucks on a daily basis, a transportation plan that covers proposed truck routes will be established to minimize traffic disruptions and other inconveniences.
Q. How long will it take to build the facility?
A. The actual construction time is estimated to take approximately 32 months.
Q. Will building this facility have a negative impact on property values in the area?
A. Based on information from other communities where facilities have been built, we have seen no decline in property values as a result of the facility.
Q. Will any of the power from this facility be available here in our area?
A. CPV is currently working on the commercial arrangements for the sale of power.
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