Three Rivers Energy dedicates new $1.3 billion power plant near Morris

The new $1.3 billion Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) Three Rivers Energy plant started over eight years ago is finally up and running, and Three Rivers Energy celebrated with a dedication and groundbreaking on Wednesday.

CPV Three Rivers Energy announced that the plant had achieved commercial operation back in August, achieving the goal set back in 2020 of having the plant operational by 2023.

CPV CEO Gary Lambert said Wednesday marked multiple achievements, as CPV couldn’t hold a groundbreaking in-person because the project officially closed six months into the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is a fantastic project, an engineering marvel,” Lambert said. “It’s the largest project we’ve done yet and we’re very excited about it coming online.”

This new power plant has a capacity of 1,250 megawatts and can supply electricity to 1.25 million homes using natural gas.

Sherman Knight, the President and CCO for CPV, said the project have over 1,000 laborers working on it at the height of construction.

“It is a cornerstone project for us and it won’t be the last one,” Knight said. “It strengthens the reliability of the Illinois electric grid by providing flexible, reliable power to manage the deployment of more intermediate resources that are coming and are making a meaningful difference in dropping carbon emissions.”

Knight said with nuclear power, renewable energy and flexible, high-efficiency natural gas, Illinois will have one of the lowest emitting power generation mixes in the world.

“We are honored to be part of that mission,” Knight said. “I’m very proud of the overall team and your ability to bring this project online.”

Nancy Norton, the CEO of the Grundy Economic Development Council, said she’s grateful and fortunate to work with a fantastic team. She said she’s been working in economic development, and not all developers are the same.

“I’d like to thank CPV for doing development the right way,” Norton said. “From the start, your team set the tone for this project and fit right into our community. Grundy County is a place where we value relationships, where we do what we say we’re going to.”

The CPV Three Rivers plant will be staffed by 23 full-time operations personnel and create an estimated 75 additional jobs to provide services to the plant. It will also contribute tax revenue, which will support public services and school funding according to an Aug. 16 news release.

CPV Vice President of Engineering and Construction Jeff Ahrens thanked everyone involved, from the union labor to the partnering companies all the way to local representatives like State Sens. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City), Grundy County Board Chairman Chris Balkema and Morris Mayor Chris Brown.