Independence holds public hearing on Chapter 100 plan to site natural-gas power plant at Blue Valley site

The Independence City Council held a full public hearing Nov. 17 on a Chapter 100 industrial-development plan that would let private partners lease about 91 acres of the retired Blue Valley Power Station to construct natural-gas generation units.

City staff and bond counsel told the council the preliminary plan envisions two phases — about 200 megawatts in phase one and approximately 600 megawatts in phase two — and cited a total project investment of roughly $2 billion, with about $12 million in personal property. David Martin of Gilmore Bell, the city’s bond counsel, said the plan includes a 20-year abatement of real-property taxes after completion (about 22–23 years including construction), rolling 20-year abatements for personal property and a sales-tax exemption on construction materials.

Assistant City Manager Charlie Dissell said the city’s municipal electric utility has limited available capacity today (he noted roughly 300 megawatts of existing load, with under 7% available for new large users), and that staff pursued the option-to-lease/private-partner structure to avoid placing large capital debt directly on the city and residential ratepayers. "Private partners will fund and construct the plant," Dissell said, and the city would retain the land and have the option to buy the plant or the power at a future date.

City staff identified the developer team as Independence Power Partners, a consortium described in staff materials as combining generation developers, natural-gas traders and wholesale-power marketers. Staff said the private partners would procure financing and that the company would purchase any Chapter 100 bonds, a structure staff and counsel said does not obligate the city to pay debt service on those bonds.

Speakers from the public spoke both in favor and in opposition. Lucy Young, who said she had followed prior consultant studies, supported the project, saying local generation is necessary to attract large industrial users and to protect low rates: "This power generation project shows the importance of the important role that IPL plays to this community," she said.

Several speakers urged caution or opposed the project. Kevin Baird said the plan was negotiated "in the dark," criticized the level of public outreach and called the financing and abatement terms a giveaway to developers. Baird warned the project could expose ratepayers to volatile gas markets and urged the council to complete additional planning before committing: "This plan fails on the math, it fails on the process, and it fails on our values," he said. Cody Atkinson raised labor and local-hiring concerns, asking that workers on construction be hired locally where possible. Kelly Cannon questioned private-equity ownership models and potential rate impacts.

Bond counsel answered multiple procedural and financial questions from the dais, reiterating that in the proposed structure the private entity would be the obligor for bond payments and the company would be required to provide indemnity and insurance protections for the city while the land remains municipal property during the abatement period.

The council closed the public hearing and the clerk read ordinance 25-107 for first reading (a plan for industrial development for a power generation project at 21500 East Truman Road). Council members did not take a final vote on the bond documents that evening; counsel said the Chapter 100 plan sits before council now and that the accompanying bond and lease documents will be negotiated and returned for further consideration if the plan advances.

Next steps: the council received the Chapter 100 plan on first reading and heard public testimony; bond counsel and staff said the detailed bond and lease documents will be drafted and brought back to the council for separate approvals.