Construction on Local Power Plant Comes to a Halt

KARTHAUS---A waste coal power plant that was to be built in Karthous has been cancelled by New York-based power company Sithe Global. They discontinued the $650 million this week because their federal loan guarantee was denied. Officials say that guarantee would have brought investors in. Preliminary construction on what was called the River Hill Project began in 2007, and Sith Global has already poured nearly $50 million into the project. State Representative Camille George said he’s disappointed by the decision to discontinue construction because it was a win-win situation for everyone involved. “It would utilize a couple million tons of waste coal, and the end result is we would produce power, and we’d put a lot of people in jobs, and we’d clean up a lot of places that have been covered and strewn over with waste coal,” George said. The plant itself would have created 65 jobs, plus another 1200 over the next four years for construction. And George says the plant would have also needed dozens of truck drivers. Residents say the area was counting on the new industry, and they’re appalled that Sithe Global would cancel something that could help the local and national economy. “We’re not Wall St. or Main St. We’re just a little side road, but we’re still as important as Wall St. or Main St.,” said Ray Savel, President of Quehanna Industrial Development, “Another thing is this was an all-American company, an all-American project, and it was going to use American-produced fuel.” Representative George says he’s been meeting with companies who may be interested in taking over the project. He said he will exhaust every resource he has to get the plant up and running.