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Claremore staff: proposed private energy facility would not use city rates or large amounts of water
Summary
City staff told the Claremore City Council that a potential industrial-scale energy user in the Mid America Industrial Park would be funded by the developer, would not be connected to Claremore's distribution grid and, officials said, would not affect city utility rates or require large water-cooling systems.
Claremore city staff updated the City Council on a potential large energy-user project in the Mid America Industrial Park, stressing it remains conditional and would be developer-funded if it proceeds.
City Manager John Fury (first referenced in the invocation) told the council that, "This project will not affect any utility rates by any utility customer by the city of Claremore." He added the facility "will not utilize water outside of bathrooms, break rooms, and irrigation systems," saying the site would not be a water-cooled operation.
Fury also addressed public concerns about secrecy and nondisclosure agreements, saying NDAs are common in economic-development negotiations but do not override public-records law: "You cannot contract around open records," he said. He said the city is processing open-records requests and that staff and outside counsel are reviewing documents to release them as allowed.
On technical and ownership details, Fury told the council the project would be a customer of the City of Claremore if it locates on the property but would not be served through Claremore's distribution grid: "We will simply have a meter between the substation and the property," he said. Fury described the end user as a domestically owned, publicly traded company meeting the developer's stated criteria and said the developer and end user would provide the funding and bear the project's risks.
Fury noted state limits on municipal electric customers above a certain size and said the city must comply with statutory provisions for customers at scale (the staff cited 2,500 kilowatts, or 2.5 megawatts, in the discussion). He also said the property has been zoned and annexed for industrial use for roughly two decades.
Fury asked the council to treat the investor's communications as the developer's to share when appropriate and said the project would return for council consideration through established agenda items if it advanced. He emphasized multiple contingencies would have to be satisfied, including negotiated rates, security deposits and other conditions, before the project could move forward.
Next steps: staff said a developer FAQ website may go live soon and that the Taxing Incentive District review committee and subsequent council actions would be the formal steps if the project proceeds. The council did not take a formal vote on the project at the meeting.
