Elmore County and Payette County Are Both Moving The Zoning Approval Forward In Hopes of Being Selected. Final selection will bring jobs and economic growth to the county that builds the plant.
– By Linton Levy –
Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc. (AEHI) has announced a second nuclear power plant site in Elmore County, Idaho, has been approved through the initial zoning phase, and now heads to the Board of Commissioners for a final vote.
Elmore Planning and Zoning recently approved changes to a county plan that makes it possible to rezone agricultural property to industrial in advance of AEHI building a nuclear power plant. That decision has now been scheduled to go before the County Commissioners for a final vote of approval. Commissioners will begin the voting and approval process on July 26th.
"This is an announcement we've been anticipating for a long time. Previous hearings on this matter were extremely positive for AEHI, with supporters outnumbering opponents by more than three to one. I believe that has everything to do with the Planning and Zoning approval and will certainly play a huge role as County Commissioners prepare to make their decision in just a few weeks," said Don Gillispie, AEHI CEO.
Another site already received similar approvals in Payette County, Idaho, with a nearly identical response from the community.
"These multiple-county approvals give us a tremendous advantage," said Gillispie. "We now have options we didn't expect just a few months ago – two different sites, with county officials and residents all proving they both want a nuclear power plant."
The proposal to build a nuclear power plant in Idaho is expected to increase employment by 5,000 jobs through the construction phase alone and over 1,000 during operations. People hired for those jobs will get paid average salaries of $60,000 and $80,000, respectively. Just one plant is expected to increase Idaho's GDP by $5.3 billion during construction, with $4.8 billion of that money flowing directly through the county level.
Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc. (http://www.AlternateEnergyHoldings.com) — Alternate Energy Holdings develops and markets innovative clean energy sources. The company is the nation's only independent nuclear power plant developer seeking to build new power plants in multiple non-nuclear states. Other projects include Energy Neutral?, which removes energy demands from homes and businesses (http://www.EnergyNeutralinc.com) Colorado Energy Park (nuclear and solar generation), and Green World Water?, which assists developing countries with nuclear reactors for power generation, production of potable water and other suitable applications. AEHI China, headquartered in Beijing, develops joint ventures to produce nuclear plant components and consults on nuclear power.