Hess to hold public meeting on Newark plant

Hess Corp. is taking its plans for a 655-megawatt Newark power plant to the public next week.

Hess Corp. is taking its plans for a 655-megawatt Newark power plant to the public next week.

The energy company has scheduled an “open house” for 4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday at the Azores Social and Sports Club, on Newark’s Wilson Avenue. Members of the company’s project team will be in attendance to take questions from the public and explain the Newark Energy Center and its impact.

Lorrie Hecker, a company spokeswoman, said such hearings are a regular part of the company’s process when it launches a new project.

“We want to ensure area residents have an opportunity to meet the team and learn more about the project,” she said.

The plant will sit on a 23-acre brownfield side that’s zoned for industrial use and is nearly a mile from the nearest residential area. Hess said the company is in the process of obtaining state and local permits, and submitting the project for review by federal agencies.

The plant is one of three combined-cycle natural gas-fueled plants approved for inclusion in a new state incentive program, the Long-Term Capacity Agreement pilot program. Under the program, the plant would be eligible for state subsidies, though the future of the program has been in flux since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last year approved rules some believe will limit the participating plants’ ability to succeed in the regional generation capacity auctions.

The Newark plant will produce enough power for more than 700,000 homes, and create 400 construction jobs and 36 permanent jobs, the company said.

Hecker said construction is expected to take 30 months, and the company hopes to have the power plant in operation no later than 2016.