People continue to voice their displeasure with the potential sale of the Gibbons Creek Power Plant here in Grimes County. At the most recent Bryan City Council meeting, the city secretary read around 30 minutes of public comments, most voicing argument against opening the plant again, which is partially owned by Bryan and BTU.
Mayor of Bryan Andrew Nelson, speaking on WTAW’s the Infomaniacs on Wednesday, said most voters, at least in Bryan, do not have much issue with the sale.
“We have allocated a lot of money for the clean up of Gibbons Creek. So, if we sell it, there are requirements for maintaining the cleanup activities,” said Nelson.
The coal fired plant in Carlos was shut down in 2018 after about 50 years of service. And, according to Nelson, that was mostly due to the plant just not being financially viable.
“At the end of the day, that land has certain value. If somebody wants to go, and they think they can make money with a coal plant better than one of the best run public power organizations, have at it. They can do that,” said Nelson. “But, to the people around the state and in College Station, who are primarily the ones who have been writing the letters, all I can say is we have a market. We are going to sell this, we’d like to sell this, I think our city wants to sell it. We are going to continue to be a financially, well-run city, and buying and selling land is a part of that.”
The City of Bryan’s ownership stake in the plant comes through the Texas Municipal Power Agency.
BTU President Gray Miller has said recently that there were talks with a potential buyer, but those have stalled in recent months.