Hearings set on proposed power plant

Mathis Winkler

Tuesday, March 5, 2002 | 8:46 a.m.

Southern Nevada residents will get a chance to comment on a proposed energy plant near Goodsprings this week.

The meetings -- required because the $350 million plant would sit on 40 acres of federal land about three miles southeast of Goodsprings -- will be held tonight, Wednesday and Thursday in Goodsprings, Las Vegas and Sandy Valley.

Los Angeles-based Diamond Generating, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, plans to build the 500 megawatt gas-fired plant in about a year and begin operations by March 2005.

Company officials said they are planning to conserve water by using an air conditioner instead of water as the cooling agent.

"That's not only good from a water conservation standpoint, but also makes the plant more competitive," said Bill Davis, the director of project development for Diamond Generating.

Unlike water-cooled plants, which use 1,000 acre-feet of water each year, the proposed plant would only need about 30 to 50 acre-feet and use water from the Desert Correctional Center in Jean, Davis said.

He added that his company is considering leasing the land for the plant from the Bureau of Land Management for 25 to 30 years.

The public meetings are scheduled for 7 p.m. each day:

Diamond Generating is developing a total of five projects in the Western states, including the Blue Diamond hydroelectric plant with Utah's Creamer and Nobel engineers.