Breaking ground: Work begins on new power plant

Stating that “good things come to those who wait,” Calpine representatives and local government officials gathered Tuesday morning for the groundbreaking ceremony on a $260-million, 360-megawatt plant to be built in Washington Parish.

The Washington Parish Energy Center will be constructed just west of Bogalusa on the site of a generation project that Calpine Corporation, of Houston, Texas, put on permanent hold in 2006. Calpine will demolish the un-needed remnants of that project, and will build a brand-new natural gas-fired peaking unit, which will consist of two combustion turbines. Calpine will then sell the finished plant to Entergy Louisiana.

Peaking units run to “fill the gap,” when customer demand for electricity reaches a level about what base-load and other generating units can produce.

“The project has been under various stages of development for a very long time,” said Charlie Gates, executive vice president of power operations for Calpine. “But as they say, good things come to those who wait.”

Numerous local, state and national officials spoke during Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony. They included State Rep. Malinda White, U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, Parish President Richard “Ned” Thomas, Parish Assessor Jimbo Stevenson, Parish Sheriff Randy Seal and Bogalusa Mayor Wendy Perrette.

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