Richland OKs $20M tax break for fertilizer plant. Will there be the power to run it?
The Richland City Council approved a 10-year, $20 million property tax break for Atlas Agro, the third such break given in the past year to companies promising to build green manufacturing plants in the city.
The council’s 7-0 vote this week waived certain property taxes. Atlas Agro only benefits if it follows through with plans to build a $1.1 billion green fertilizer plant on a 150-acre site at 1500 Horn Rapids Drive, which is under contract with the Port of Benton.
The site is part of a zone the port and city call the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park — former Department of Energy property being used to diversify the local economy.
The city previously waived nearly $9 million in property taxes for ATI Specialty Alloys and Component and for Framatome under a new new state law designed to promote investment in Washington called “Targeted Urban Areas,” or TUAs.
The 2022 Legislature adopted the program, which allows cities and counties to waive some property taxes for businesses that invest at least $800,000 in new facilities and create at least 25 new jobs that pay family wages at the outset.
Richland is the first local government to employ the TUA rules to woo clean energy investment.
Council members said they were thrilled Atlas is seriously considering making Richland the home for its proposed Pacific Green Fertilizer Plant. The plant will produce 700,000 tons of carbon-free fertilizer annually from water, air, limestone and vast amounts of electricity.
First public discussion
It was the first time city council members spoke publicly about TUA projects.
The ATI and Framatome breaks were approved in the past as part of the council’s consent agenda, where routine matters are passed on a single vote without discussion.
Atlas Agro’s request was on the council’s business agenda, which prompted a public discussion that offered a view to how council members view the trade off between tax breaks and future economic activity.
“This is exactly the type of project I was hoping to see when I got on the city council,” said Councilman Ryan Whitten.
Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Kent cast the plant as a win for food production.
“That’s just a noble cause,” she said.
The plant’s future rested on the property tax request, according to Mandy Wallner, the city’s economic development director.
Without it, the company would go elsewhere, she told the council.
Karl Dye, president and CEO of the Tri-City Development Council, previously told the Port of Benton that Atlas Agro could consider Oregon.
Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, could not be reached to comment on what if any efforts it has made to attract Atlas Agro.
350 megawatt challenge
Securing enough power to run the plant will be one of the biggest hurdles.
Atlas Agro has told the city it needs up to 350 megawatts, or three times the power consumed by the entire city.
The company will have to find the power on its own, said Clint Whitney, Richland’s electric utility manager. While the city is working with Atlas on transmission connections, the company will have to secure “non-federal” power.
“This power will not be from federal BPA resources,” Whitney told the council.
Atlas Agro told the Tri-City Herald its Pacific Green Fertilizer plant will use “locally sourced renewable energy.” and that it is working to determine a mix of resources.
Richland previously approved a $2.56 million property tax waiver for for ATI in exchange for a $111 million investment at its 100-acre campus at 3101 Kingsgate Way. The plant will add 93 jobs, with 87 paying $23 or more an hour, the state-set minimum.
It also waived $6.7 million in property taxes for French nuclear fuels manufacturer Framatome, for a two-phased investment in fourth-general nuclear fuel production at its Richland campus, 2101 Horn Rapids Road.
The combined investment totals nearly $360 million and will support about 225 new jobs, if Richland is selected.
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