Holly Power Plant to Close, Really!

Holly Power Plant, the aging metal monolith towering above Town Lake in East Austin, will officially close this September, according to Austin Energy. For more than a decade, the natural-gas-burning plant has drawn the ire of nearby residents, catching fire twice and having its closure date delayed by four years. But last week, AE announced it has received the OK from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, overseer of the state's power grid, to shutter the plant's remaining two units for good, as ERCOT has determined the plant isn't needed to avert a local blackout. Two of Holly's units were retired in 2004.

Susana Almanza, co-director of People Organized in the Defense of the Earth and Her Resources – an East Austin-based nonprofit addressing area environmental, economic, and social-justice issues – said Monday, "I hope the city will hold true to their commitment," recalling a 1998 promise that the plant would close fully by 2005. Almanza stressed her hope that there would be benefits for the community in the redevelopment of the site. After several meetings with the city, a variety of ideas was suggested – from an expansion of the nearby baseball field and park to a cultural arts and community center, she said. "I'd like to see several more community stakeholder meetings held to look at options and possibilities for the land."

Daniel Llanes, a PODER board member and chair of the nearby River Bluff Neighborhood Association, is cautiously optimistic about Holly's closure. ("I hope the city doesn't change [its] mind again.") He added that residents expect the city to do all of the follow-through associated with cleanup, including removing anything toxic or noxious that could affect the water or neighborhood. "The city has yet to finish cleaning up the tank farm," he noted, referring to another East Austin industrial controversy: a benzene-emitting fuel-storage facility, which bordered residential areas and which relocated in 1993.

AE spokesman Ed Clark said the plant's deconstruction would take up to three years and that, once complete, the land would revert to the city's Parks Department. "The current plan is for it to become parkland," Clark said. "The neighborhood has and will be involved in any and all decisions."