MOU Signed Between Proposed Nuclear Power Plant, Arizona Utility

10.06.2009 by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) The owner of a proposed nuclear power plant in Utah has signed an agreement to potentially sell power to an electric utility in Page, Arizona, once the project is completed.  Aaron Tilton is CEO of Blue Castle Holdings, owner of the Blue Castle Project, a proposal for a nuclear power plant in Emery County.

“We’ve got multiple utilities that call us on a regular basis about the project, where we are, what we’re doing,” he told KCPW.  “As we got further along in the project, they thought it would be a good idea to kind of stake out a place in line to do due diligence, because this is really a preliminary agreement that allows them to access more information about our project, some of which may be confidential.”

Tilton says although this utility is in Arizona, the power would be beneficial to Utah, because the company would use it to provide electricity to the pumps for the Lake Powell Pipeline.

Critics of the Blue Castle nuclear project have said the company would sell most of the power out of state.  But Tilton says the majority of the power from the nuclear plant will stay in Utah.

“We see Utah as a primary customers for the electricity coming out of the plant,” he said.  “We would assume that at least half of the power stays here, if not more.”

Tilton expects the plant to be up and running by 2019 or 2020.  He doesn’t see any significant hurdles facing the project, noting that other nuclear projects have been moving forward in recent years.  Emery County and the city of Green River are also supporting the project.