With siting conversations ongoing between TerraPower and Evergy regarding the location of a new Natrium reactor, and with two local counties expressing interest in housing the project, City Manager Trey Cocking says that while he hopes Lyon County could house the project, it doesn’t necessarily have to land in the local community to provide a range of benefits to the local economy.
Cocking’s comments came during the monthly Q&A with Trey segment on KVOE’s Talk of Emporia Tuesday in response to a question from KVOE News as to how possibly receiving such a project could benefit the Emporia community specifically. The question comes a week after the City of Emporia and the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas signed letters of support for bringing the project to Lyon County and a day after Coffey County Commissioners expressed their “Strong interest” in housing the reactor as well.
While Coffey and Lyon counties are not the only communities in the Evergy service network likely making a play for the project, Cocking noted the local area is an ideal site given the existence of Wolf Creek in Burlington and Lyon County’s longtime support for the facility, both with housing and other considerations. When it comes to the benefits of housing the project, if the local area were selected, Cocking first pointed to property taxes as an area that could see improvement locally should such a project break ground specifically in Lyon County, saying it could help address the issue “To a degree.”
Also, Cocking believes the local workforce and housing markets could see significant improvement, noting that many Wolfcreek employees reside in Emporia or surrounding communities and there is a potential for sporadic increases in visitation and transient guest tax dollars, with Cocking noting the increase in population we see during scheduled outages at Wolfcreek alone.
There are also benefits to be had from the education sector, specifically higher ed, and more specifically, Flint Hills Technical College, which offers a quality power plant technology program.
Regardless of where the project ultimately is located, Cocking says, “At the end of the day, the need for increased energy generation is huge,” and the Natrium reactor will help bring needed relief.
Lyon County Commissioners are set to consider a letter of support for the Natrium project during their regular action meeting Thursday. Aside from those pending conversations, discussions among the Emporia City Commission, RDA and Coffey County Commission are the only public discussions to have been held regarding the project among area governments.
