(Hurt) — Leaders in one Pittsylvania County town are getting behind plans for a power plant and data center complex.
Hurt Town Council this week adopted a resolution supporting Balico’s new proposal for a 300-megawatt gas-fired power plant, along with eight or nine data centers. The power plant would be connected to the nearby Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Hurt Mayor Gary Hodnett says part of the new proposal calls for a water treatment plant in Hurt. “We have a working agreement and a letter of intent with Balico that we will be putting in a new membrane water treatment plant beside the old non-potable plant,” Hodnett told Town Council.
According to the American Water Works Association, membrane water treatment plants use membranes to separate contaminants from water, producing clean drinking water or treating wastewater.
This facility would pipe water from the Staunton River to serve the power plant and data centers 18 miles away in the Chalk Level community. One estimate places the cost at around 18 million dollars. “We would be supplying water to the tune of two million gallons per day to the data center in Chatham.”
Hodnett says other users would be able to tap into the water line. Since the facility would have a capacity of five million gallons per day, that would leave around three million gallons of water available per day.
The Town of Hurt already owns the existing water plant at the former Klopman Mills site. It can treat only non-potable water. “We’re going to keep that plant operational as well, just in case we have someone come into the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park that may need non-potable water.”
Hodnett says they’re planning an open house later this month to explain the project to town residents. “It will give residents a chance to meet the project owner and they would be more than glad to answer any questions about what he’s doing, why he’s doing it, what it means to the town of Hurt and what it means for Gretna and Chatham.”
Balico’s original proposal called for a three-and-a-half gigawatt power plant and up to 84 data centers on 2,200 acres in the Chalk Level area.
Balico withdrew their original request after an outpouring of opposition from neighbors, and assurances from county Supervisors that there was no support for the plan.
