City manager seeks council OK to pursue state approval for Ormond Beach power-plant-to-battery deal that would fund $45 million for South Oxnard

City Manager Alex Nguyen asked the Oxnard City Council to authorize staff to seek state approval of a proposed four-year agreement with Genon that would convert the Ormond Beach power plant to a battery storage facility and lock in a date-certain closure for the fossil-fuel plant.

Nguyen said the corporate owner would make a $45,000,000 commitment to South Oxnard: $16,000,000 to establish a nonprofit legal-aid organization for low-income residents focused on immigration, housing and employment rights (including a $15,000,000 endowment and $1,000,000 for initial operations), and $29,000,000 to create a public facility serving South Oxnard. "We are asking our city council to approve our effort to actually seek state approval of this proposed agreement," Nguyen said, adding that city approval alone would not finalize the deal.

The…