Kootenai Power Plant May Be A Windfall Opponents Unconvinced Facility Would Be Cost-Effective

A power plant proposed for the Rathdrum Prairie could bring a $1.6 million windfall to Kootenai County without costing much in return. That’s county commissioner Ron Rankin’s rallying cry for the Rathdrum Power LLC gas-turbine plant.

The plant - a partnership between Cogentrix and Avista Corp. - would boost county property tax coffers by nearly 3 percent without requiring services such as schools, Rankin said. “That’s equivalent to 1,000 new homes on the prairie, and what do we have to provide? Nothing,” he said.

But some prairie residents say tax earnings don’t make up for the threat to local property values and air quality. And there are indications Rankin may be overestimating values and underestimating services.

Property values near the plant and its 150-foot smokestack will likely drop, said Jose Keller, with Windermere/Coeur d’ Alene Realty.

“I think that’s probably why we’ve had a lot of people against the project,” Keller said.

The plant, as proposed, would annually release nearly 100 tons of carbon monoxide, more than 80 tons of ammonia, about 38 tons of tiny “particulates” that can trigger respiratory problems, as well as small amounts of benzene and formaldehyde. An Avista gas-turbine plant within a mile releases more than twice the nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide as Rathdrum Power would.

Many area residents also say the Cogentrix plant could add to existing air quality threats from the Avista plant, field burning and other industry.

“Let’s not be lured by the increased tax base as justification to subject our environment to harm,” Coeur d’Alene’s Lance Fritze told state officials during a hearing this week.

A public comment period for a state permit change authorizing the plant closes today.

Rankin’s figure comes from calculations based on 1998 tax levy rates on an assessed value for the plant of $100 million. Cogentrix officials said that figure is a good starting point, but the plant hasn’t been built, so there’s no official assessed value.

State officials say the plant would be eligible for tax credits that may somewhat limit total revenues. The tax breaks - for air pollution control - probably wouldn’t be very great, said Gregory Cade, with the Idaho Tax Commission.

It’s also unclear what services the plant would actually require.

Rathdrum Power would hook up to Rathdrum city sewers but supply its own water. The plant would require emergency services and lead to some increased road use.

Along with daily deliveries, tankers would bring liquid ammonia every two weeks, and make several monthly deliveries, Cogentrix representative Curt Humphrey said.

The company’s 20 employees shouldn’t burden local schools, Rankin said. In exchange, Lakeland schools would get more than $600,000 at 1998 tax levy rates.