Work is under way on Cleco's 600- megawatt power plant in Boyce, La. Water's importance to the project takes multiple forms: a 3,000- acre (1,215- hectare) cooling lake and raw material transport on the Mississippi and Red Rivers.

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nyone who questioned the resolve of Louisiana officials to rebuild a state ravaged last year by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita must have been impressed by the developments of this summer.
   In a span of less than two months, Louisiana leaders broke ground on a US$1- billion power plant in Boyce and announced plans to build a $5- billion synthetic fuel factory in Geismar.
   Together, the two projects bolster the Bayou State's position as a global energy leader. More importantly, they send a loud signal that the state is once again open for the business of power- hungry manufacturers.
   As oil prices skyrocketed past $75 a barrel and natural gas prices topped $8 per thousand cubic feet in early August, many manufacturers were left wondering when their energy bills would stop rising.
   Louisiana has a simple message for them: Locate here.
   The Cajun recipe for business rebirth in the storm- tattered bayou is a mixture of home- grown electric generation and Chinese entrepreneurialism.
   Cleco Power LLC, based in Pineville, broke ground May 16 on a $1- billion power plant that will create 1,200 construction jobs and 80 permanent jobs, and save Louisiana customers about $4 billion in energy costs over 30 years.
   The new, 600- megawatt unit in Boyce about 15 miles (24 km.) northwest of Alexandria will use circulating fluidized- bed technology, developed under the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean- Coal Technology program. The project will be one of the cleanest solid- fuel units of its kind. Cleco's intention is to use a byproduct of the oil refinery process – petroleum coke – to fuel the facility.
   "We are now in the elementary phases of construction. In June, we broke ground on the permanent facilities," says Bill Fontenot, vice president of regulated generation development for Cleco, a regional energy provider that operates a regulated electric utility company that serves 265,000 customers across Central and Southern Louisiana.
   "We have been working on site preparation for about four months. The project will take 42 months to complete," Fontenot says. "Substantial completion will be by September 30, 2009. We chose this location because it is a brownfield site with the infrastructure in place to support it. We compared alternative locations in the market, but this site made sense for several reasons – reliability and reliably delivered power to our customers through a direct connection to our transmission system; a brownfield site with a 3,000- acre [1,215- hectare] cooling lake that will support the cooling requirements for three power units; a natural gas connection to the site; and access to waterways so that we can bring in by barge the solid fuels and unload on an oxbow of the river."
   Fontenot notes that Cleco will be able to use both the Mississippi River and Red River to transport raw materials.
   Fontenot says it was also critical that the project

Bill Fontenot, vice president of regulated generation development for Cleco

enjoyed widespread public support. "This was particularly important because we will be burning solid fuels," he said. "We have operated a unit at that site for 30 years without incident."
   The project has the potential to make a big economic impact on the state. "We will pay $16 million in sales tax on purchase of equipment and about $160 million in property taxes over the life of the unit," Fontenot says. "What you've got is a utility company making a 30- plus- year investment to bring low- cost electric power to the customers in this service area. Cleco has a $2- billion balance sheet, and this project will cost $1 billion."
   Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the project will provide "a significant boost to the economy of Central Louisiana. Just as important, this new plant will give consumers, homeowners and businesses a reliable source of energy. Businesses look for stable energy costs and this project will help us attract new industry to Louisiana."
   Mike Madison, Cleco president and CEO, said the new generating unit at Rodemacher Power Station in Boyce is an important step in Louisiana's recovery.
   "Growing the economy of our state is more important now than ever," he said. "While we work to recover from the effects of last year's hurricanes, it feels good to be able to break ground on a project like this – one that will have far- reaching economic impact."