County may entice ethanol company for major plant
Facility could cost as much as $170 million
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Jackson County is looking to entice an ethanol manufacturing company that could become the largest industrial project in the county.
Commissioner Tom Crow told the Jackson County Industrial Development Authority on Friday about First United Ethanol, LLC (FUEL), which is building a 100 million gallon dry mill ethanol plant in Mitchell County in southwest Georgia. Crow said he invested a “small amount” in the company.
FUEL is expected to open its $170 million plant located on 268 acres between Camilla and Pelham in 2008, according to a company press release. Crow said the company is scouting for a location for its second plant in Georgia.
“This sounds like a great opportunity for Jackson County,” Crow said.
Corn-based ethanol is an emerging energy source for alternative fuel. It is used as an additive to reduce vehicle emissions and meet clean air standards.
Ethanol also creates two byproducts that can be used in other industries.
The FUEL plant in southwest Georgia is expected to annually produce 320,000 tons of grains that can be used as feed for the livestock, dairy and poultry industries, according to the company. The plant will also create 160,000 tons a year of raw carbon dioxide that may be used in other products, such as dry ice.
Crow said Wayne Farms — Jackson County’s largest employer — is interested in getting grain from the FUEL plant.
And while farmers in southwest Georgia are converting their crops to corn to supply the FUEL plant, Crow said the majority of the company’s corn comes from the Midwest of the United States.
“There’s no reason a plant can’t be built in North Georgia,” Crow said.
But a proposed FUEL plant in Jackson County will require some major infrastructure.
The plant would require 1.2 million gallons of water a day — a depleting resource amid Northeast Georgia’s rapid growth. Jackson County has about an additional one million gallons of water available from the Bear Creek Reservoir, which also serves three other counties.
FUEL would also construct a half million gallon water storage tank on its property.
The facility would discharge an estimated 200 gallons of sewage a minute and annually emit about 100 tons of air pollution — about the amount of a medium-sized hospital, according to Crow.
The plant has an estimated annual gas bill of $30 million, which could be reduced if farmers within a 60-mile radius use the grain byproduct, Crow said.
A FUEL plant in Jackson County would require about 75-150 acres with access to a railroad line.
Scott Martin, chairman of the Jackson County IDA, said the county is well positioned for such a project with its access to I-85, rail lines and a strong agricultural industry.
IDA member Jim Shaw also said a FUEL plant would “eclipse anything else in Jackson County.”
“It’s certainly worthy of additional consideration,” he added.
The IDA plans to invite FUEL board members to give a presentation about the company to the IDA, county board of commissioners, officials in Jackson County’s cities and other county business leaders. The presentation could take place this month.
Martin said the IDA could support the project by issuing industrial development bonds.
In southwest Georgia, the Mitchell County Development Authority issued $29 million in tax-exempt bonds to purchase equipment for the distillers’ grain, $53 million in taxable bonds for the project’s primary financing and $10 million in county-backed bonds as subordinate debt, according to FUEL. The company has more than 800 investors, as well.
Crow said a group of citizens and government leaders in Mitchell County researched how to diversify its economy and conducted two studies into the feasibility of an ethanol plant. The group, which founded FUEL in 2005, also gathered investment money for the plant.
For more information about FUEL, visit www.firstunitedethanol.com.
