Calpine to Build First U.S. Power Plant with Emissions Limits

February 4, 2010
By Allison Landa, News Editor

The power company Calpine said Thursday that it has gotten the go-ahead to build the country’s first plant with a federal limit on greenhouse gas emissions.

That permission was granted by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which granted Calpine the final federal regulatory approval to allow the project to proceed. The 600-megawatt Russell Energy Center is slated for a 15-acre parcel in Hayward, located southeast of San Francisco.

Calpine said that the natural gas-fired power plant will produce 50 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than comparable plants as well as 25 percent fewer emissions than allowed by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The plant is also projected to create 650 union jobs and bring in $30 million in one-time tax revenue as well as $5 million in annual property tax revenue. Calpine plans to donate $10 million for a Hayward city library.

Calpine said earlier this month that its 2009 earnings were higher than the nearly $1.75 billion initially projected. The company was founded in 1984 and today delivers nearly 25,000 megawatts of fuel-efficient energy to customers in 16 states across the U.S. and Canada.