Community News

At 2 PM today, Mayor Ron Gonzales will announce his agreement with Calpine/Bechtel regarding the proposed Metcalf Energy Center. This is a private press conference and the community is not invited nor is SouthSanJose.com. From the media advisory:

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San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, Calpine Corporation President and CEO Peter Cartwright, and Bechtel Enterprises Executive Vice President Tim Statton will announce an agreement regarding the proposed Metcalf Energy Center (MEC).

Under the agreement, MEC will take additional steps to further assure safe operating practices of the proposed facility, improve local electrical reliability, make cash contributions to community programs, and offer long-term contracts at competitive prices for San Jose businesses.

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As the specifics of the Mayor's agreement are publicly known, we will let you know. To our knowledge, pollution reduction technology, such as SCONOx, that would greatly reduce emissions and eliminate the need for ammonia use and delivery continues to be missing from this project. It is our understanding that the City Council will vote at their June 5th, 2001 City Council hearing whether to direct the City Manager to negotiate with Calpine/Bechtel. We also believe the City Council has input into the negotiating process and will ultimately have to vote on the negotiated agreement. All throughout the two year process, Calpine/Bechtel had said they will pay for the 10+ mile recycled water pipeline that snakes through city streets, however, initial details of the Mayor's agreement show the Mayor has negotiated that Calpine/Bechtel will pay $10 milllion or 20% of the projected pipeline costs.