Bruce Mansfield plant in Beaver County to undergo $3.2 billion transformation into natural gas power plant
The old Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant in Shippingport, Beaver County, will be transformed into a natural gas power plant that will employ more than 300 people, thanks to a $3.2 billion investment announced at the Inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University.
The Mansfield plant, which was the largest coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania, closed about half a decade ago.
"That affected everybody, not only just this little town, but all throughout these little communities," said David Trevino, borough council president in neighboring Midland, which has a population of 2,400.
Many jobs were lost when the coal plant shut down, said Shippingport Mayor John Erickson. Both towns took a hit.
Shippingport went from a budget of $6 million in 2006 to a budget of around $1 million this year, Erickson said. They've had to cut back on city services like police.
It was part of a larger industrial trend.
"We took a beating, this town took a beating, every town has the same story," Trevino said.
That story, however, could soon be changing. The town has needed good-paying jobs, Trevino said. The new power plant, which is being built by Frontier Group, and what's built around it could offer that.
"It will financially help us out, and it will create some jobs down here," Erickson said.
The small town of just over 150 people is no stranger to big investments in power generation. The world's first nuclear power plant was built in the town in the 1950s
Three hundred jobs would be permanent, and there would be 15,000 construction jobs. The plant would use natural gas instead of coal. It's not as clean as the nuclear power plant down the street, but it would be an improvement over coal, Erickson said, explaining that at one point, a black material from the plant rained down on the town.
The plant will power the electric grid along with a new artificial intelligence data center.
In total, the redevelopment will create $6 billion in economic activity. Trevino used to work at the Bruce Mansfield plant and said he looks forward to seeing the new one.
"I'm going to see this thing reborn, and add an influx of money and opportunities for young people to come, and it's going to do nothing but enhance the whole community," Trevino said.
One neighbor who lives near the plant shared the concern that a representative of the power plant's property owner approached him about selling his property to them. He said he felt they were not offering him the amount of money his property is worth.
