Herald and News: Klamath Falls, Oregon

http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/02/02/news/top_stories/top1.txt

	Cob Energy Facility representative Paul Turner, foreground, listens to testimony regarding the proposed power plant in Langell Valley during a hearing Tuesday before the Klamath County Board of Commissioners.

  February 2, 2005

By ANGELA TORRETTA

The Klamath County Board of Commissioners Tuesday rejected an offer for cash payments in lieu of taxes by power plant developer Peoples Energy, and countered with three separate proposals.

The company proposing to build the Cob Energy Facility had asked for a decision to be made on its offer Tuesday, but county officials made it clear the process would probably take months.

Commissioners Bill Brown, Al Switzer and John Elliott all asked for more money from the Cob Energy Facility than previously proposed in an enterprise zone deal offered two weeks ago by Cob representative Paul Turner.

Turner had offered to pay 50 percent of what the tax bill would be for the first 15 years of the plant's life.

By his estimation, if a full-size, 1,150-megawatt power plant were built, the plant would pay about $3.2 million to the county during the first year, decreasing to $2.4 million by the end. Contributions would be less if the plant were smaller - $1.9 million the first year, and decreasing to $1.6 million. The figure is a boost from the company's previous offer