Natural gas-to-energy company Indeck Energy Services, Inc. again presented to the city planning commission plans for a facility in the city.
On Sept. 28, Indeck Energy asked the planning commission to evaluate an application for the construction of a facility on 110 acres of land that the company owns at 2200 Progressive Dr., near the industrial park.
City Administrator Ric Huff said no action was taken during the meeting and that the company is a long way from establishing a facility in Niles.
“They are still doing research and looking at costs,” he said. “It is in the beginning stages.”
Indeck Energy’s intent as a company is to use combined-cycle technology, which will use a gas turbine to generate heat and steam for electricity production.  On Aug. 4, a webpage appeared online with information pertaining to the proposed Niles Energy Center. According to the website, the Niles Energy Center will be fueled by clean natural gas and will produce 1,000 megawatts of
energy and enough power to run 635,000 homes.
“Indeck Niles is being developed to fill the need for generating resources created by the decommissioning of dirtier and less efficient coal-fired plants in the region,” the website states.
Huff said the website’s appearance does not necessarily mean anything serious about the company’s intent to build in Niles. After all, this is not the company’s first proposal.
“The website doesn’t prove anything,” Huff said. “There are a lot of variables.”
In a response to a series of email questions, Mike DuBois vice president of project development at Indeck Energy, said that the company picked property in Niles because of its prime location.
“Niles provides a central access point to existing natural gas transmission lines and electric transmission network throughout the Midwest,” he said. “The proposed location of the facility within the Niles Industrial Park will also enable Indeck Energy to minimize the traffic congestion and environmental impacts associated with building in a city center.”
DuBois added that the company would be investing nearly $1 billion in the proposed project. In addition, the facility could bring in 500 union construction jobs, 21 full-time technical jobs at the plant and generate $10 million in new annual tax revenue.
When asked why those in the Niles community should take this proposal seriously, DuBois responded by saying this time around the market is right for the business.
According to a Niles Daily Star article from February of 2004, the company was granted a permit to build, but failed to have construction underway in the allowed 18 months building time frame.
The company was cited to have not begun construction due to a spike in the cost of natural gas and other “economic woes.”
When the company approached the city they were seeking an air permit that would allow them to construct and operate. Some residents voiced opposition stating that they worried the plant would pollute the environment.
In 2007, the Niles Daily Star reported that the company came back with new plans, this time to install an ethanol plant. Mayor Mike McCauslin, who said the business would create substantial economic impact for the city of Niles, supported the plans. Indeck Energy was waiting for approval for an air permit application from the Michigan Economic Development Corp, which was expected to be processed in December of 2007. Plans for the plant once again fell through.
“Current market conditions are ideal for this type of investment and we believe that the timing is right to move this project forward,” DuBois said.
Indeck Energy has its corporate headquarters based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.  The independent power producing company has been in business for 25 years. They have several plants around the United States including in Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, as well as several international plants in Guatemala, Canada and Great Britain.
Indeck will bring revised plans back to the city planning commission Oct. 26.
More information is available Indeck website at: www.indecknilesenergycenter.com. DuBois said residents can expect to find updated meeting information there.