Artist’s rendering of what Tenaska Westmoreland will look like
In August 2016, energy giant Tenaska (headquartered in Omaha, NE) broke ground to build a 925-megawatt natural gas-fueled power plant in Westmoreland County, PA (see Groundbreaking for Tenaska Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant in SWPA). The Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station is costing $780 million to build. Some of that money, $22 million so far, is being spent to upgrade the local Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County water treatment plant (see Tenaska Spends $22M in Water Plant Upgrades Ahead of Elec Project). The plant is on track to be completed by late 2018 when it will go online, providing power for 925,000 homes. Some 600 workers are active on the project. Tenaska recently announced a major milestone in the construction of the plant: Those 600 workers have now logged 1 million hours of work in building the plant, and there’s still plenty of hours to go. That’s 600 workers being paid with private money–money that circulates and recirculates in the local and regional economy, into the pockets of other businesses, into the pockets of labor unions (via dues), and into the pockets of local municipalities (and the state) via tax revenue. Westmoreland County and PA owe Tenaska a huge “thank you” for building the Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station…
