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State pushes second Klamath Falls gas plant The Associated Press KLAMATH FALLS - State officials are expediting a proposal to build a second gas-fired power plant next to one completed earlier this year by the city and PacifiCorp Power Marketing Inc. PacifiCorp Power Marketing wants to build a 500-megawatt power plant in Klamath Falls, near the Klamath Cogeneration Plant, a 500-megawatt plant that began operation last summer. Earlier this month, the company asked the state Office of Energy to hurry the review of its application. The energy office and a citizen board - the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council - regulate large energy projects in the state. Under the proposal, PacifiCorp Power Marketing would build, own and operate the proposed plant without the involvement of the city, said David Stewart-Smith, administrator of the Office of Energy's energy resources division. Nearby gas pipelines and power transmission lines attracted the first power plant to the area. Stewart-Smith said PacifiCorp has a lease deal with Collins Products LLC to build the plant on industrial land where the wood products company had stored wood chips and equipment. This is the second new power plant to be proposed in the region recently. Last month, Chicago-based Peoples Energy proposed a gas-fired generating plant near Bonanza. PacifiCorp's proposed plant would have two gas-fired turbines and one or two turbines powered by steam generated from waste heat from the gas-fired turbines. Stewart-Smith said that because the proposed plant site is adjacent to an existing power plant and on land already zoned for industrial use, the application qualifies for an expedited review. A regular review takes, on average, about nine months and an expedited review takes about six months, he said. If a permit is issued, a developer has two years to start construction, although the company can seek amendments to extend that time frame. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.