LETTER: Power Plant Tax Deal Not Fair to Oxford Residents

To the editor,

Oxford residents should vote “NO” to the CPV power plant tax stabilization agreement at the February 11 town referendum for the following reasons: 1) Mr. Temple has not shared with residents the data that he used to determine why the negotiated taxes of $112 million for the $1 billion plant is the best deal for Oxford,

2) The Exelon power plant will provide Medway, MA with a substantially better negotiated deal. For 200 MW of electricity, Medway will be paid $75 million. Applying this to Oxford at 800 MW, this would mean CPV would pay Oxford $300 million instead of the $112 million negotiated,

3) Right next door in Beacon Falls, without burning fuels and polluting the town, a 63 MW fuel cell park is expected to substantially increase the towns grand list by $200 million, and

4) The tax schedule structure over 22 years could cause Oxford to lose a substantial amount of tax money if the plant reduces operation or closes in the early years.

CPV will pay much less in the early years, then $78 million over the final 13 years. Why are the taxes back-end weighted? Oxford residents should vote “NO” at the February 11 referendum because the current negotiated agreement with CPV is outrageously low when compared to Medway, MA.

Neighboring Beacon Falls has also negotiated an outstanding deal. CPV and its investors will make a windfall profit and must pay its fair share of taxes to Oxford, particularly in the early years of the agreement.

Jerry Fogel

Oxford, CT