Residents Fight Oxford Power Plant Proposal

Three dozen residents of the Oxford area protested the plan to build a power plant in the area, citing health concerns and decreasing property values.

Protesters chanted "No power plant" at a meeting of the Connecticut Siting Commission, which is considering Competitive Power Ventures' proposed changes to a certificate issued 15 years ago allowing the company to build on a rural site near a business park.

The natural gas facility would provide electricity for hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents, but protesters argued that the area has seen significant changes over the past decade.

The design has been delayed on several occasions, but now CPV wants to nearly double the capacity of the original design which could provide energy for more than 750,000 people.

“Oxford is a different place today than it was back then,” said one resident. “There are residential neighborhoods now and there was nothing like that near the site back then.”

A golf course has also been built near the proposed site.

Ten-year Oxford resident Ruth Schiff contends that a facility that burns natural gas could lead to toxins being released into the air.

“I love the clean air and I love the people,” Schiff said of the community she’s grown to call home.

Critics of the plant have also argued that it could lead to economic hardship in the area.

“I think it’s going to bring down property values. I think that people are going to be discouraged from moving anywhere near the power plant and probably anywhere in these towns because it’s going to make a difference,” Schiff said.

Company officials said the opposition is overblown.

In a statement provided to NBC Connecticut, Yanina Daigle, who handles external affairs for the company, said the pros and cons of the idea of a plant has already been debated and now it’s about getting the project off the ground.

“We believe in that process, and while we disagree with the positions being advocated by the opponents, we look forward to a thorough review by the CSC of our request for an amendment to improve upon our existing certificate,” Daigle said.

Daigle responded to claims that the plant could hurt nearby ecosystems and harm the surrounding areas by explaining that “this project, when built, will be among the cleanest conventional generating facilities in the world and will provide significant benefits to electric utility customers, Oxford and surrounding towns, the State and the environment.”

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