The Gibbons Creek Power Plant in Grimes County is one vote away from being sold to a private company.
At the Bryan City Council meeting on Tuesday night, they approved the sale of the coal-fired plant to a Kentucky company, which does not plan to restart the plant. Bryan is one of four cities that own the Grimes County facility. City councils in Garland and Greenville approved the sale Tuesday night. And Denton will consider the sale on January 26th.
According to background information provided to the Bryan council, the sale will save more than 48 million dollars in environmental remediation costs.
Bryan City Secretary Mary Lynne Stratta read letters from three opponents before the council moved forward with their approval.
“The Gibbons Creek Reservoir is a very valuable, and unique asset, that can serve, not only as a public recreation destination, but as a backup water resource for our region. It can play a role with the discharge repository, for treated water, from the new sewage plant being built east of Bryan and College Station. Excess water from the reservoir can be sold to water companies to the south that lack groundwater, providing the four cities with an expanding commodity income stream,” read Stratta from the submitted letter.
The buyer is considering redevelopment options that includes renewable energy, agricultural, and unidentified commercial and industrial uses.