By Michael Glenn
This past Monday, I had the privilege of covering the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce’s press conference held at the Kansas State Fairgrounds where they announced Evergy will be building a $1 billion natural gas plant in Reno County in the South Hutchinson area.
This is a big economic win for the county, and we should thank and applaud the chamber for their efforts in securing this victory. This will be the largest investment from a company in our county in its history, according to the chamber.
Evergy will get a 10-year tax break once the plant is online. Construction will begin in 2027 with the factory up and running in mid-2030.
With the property tax bill expected to be $500 million throughout the plant’s lifetime, this will help fill the county’s coffers for a long time.
Truth be told, I’m not a huge fan of any fossil fuels, whether it be coal, crude oil or natural gas. However, natural gas is the best of the worst in terms of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, so if we have to use natural gas to convert to clean renewable energy, so be it.
For any citizen who wants to say Hutchinson or Reno County isn’t going anywhere, I’d encourage them to listen to our own governor, Laura Kelly. A reporter from a TV station asked her after the chamber press conference why Hutchinson was chosen for the development. This was her quote:
“A lot of what it was, particularly here in Hutch, was the coming together of all the forces, bringing to the table all the people who needed to be here,” Kelly said. “The economic development folks, the political figures, the other business leaders, and then bringing the state in, too, because it would be a lot of permitting that would go on. So what Hutchinson did, in terms of bringing everybody together to the table, was really, I think, what the CEO did.”
We are a community that is able to talk to each other. When we can get the chamber, economic developers and political leaders to unite and work on common goals, we can truly win.
Take notes, guys. We can continue to win big like this, but it only happens when we can work together, not tear each other down.
COUNCIL MATTOON / October 28, 2024
I don’t understand why Hutchinson had to give a 10 year property tax giveaway. If we didn’t, would they have built it in Indiana? Their stockholders will benefit, and at the end of the 10 years the ratepayers will have to pay the tax!
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