Proposed natural gas power plant no longer coming to Pittsylvania County

Plant would've been an investment of more than $250 million in local economy

PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. – In January 2017, Southern Power representatives unveiled a conceptual design of the natural gas power plant the company had been planning to build at the Berry Hill industrial park in Pittsylvania County.

Danville City Manager Ken Larking said Tuesday that Southern Power has notified the city and county, which jointly own the industrial park, that the market conditions are no longer right for the power the company would produce, so the company has decided to scrap the project.

"Any amount of incentives that we could've given them to stay would've been just a mere drop in the bucket for what their total cost of business would've been," Larking said.

The plant would have been an investment of more than $250 million in the local economy and created 25 jobs.

"(Southern Power) had the option of buying the land if they needed it. They actually paid (the Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Facility) to have that purchase option agreement," Larking explained.

The regional industrial facility authority gets to keep the roughly $100,000 that Southern Power paid.

On top of that, Larking said there may still be hope for the project yet.

"They did say that if things change they would be willing to come back because it is an ideal location," Larking said.

In the meantime, the regional industrial facility authority will market the land to other companies for other projects.