RUMFORD — An unnamed developer said negotiations with the town for a $150 million processing facility in the town business park behind the Rumford Power Plant off Route 108 are nearly complete.

The plant would create about 150 construction jobs and about 20 long-term jobs, he said last Thursday. The name of the company and the nature of the plant were not revealed. He said the business has “a track record of good historical investment in the state of Maine on a large scale.”

Jim Rinaldo of the River Valley Growth Council, who does economic development work in the area, said there have been a lot of coordinated efforts at the state level with this business.

“We’ve worked very hard to keep it quiet,” he said.

The developer said the company chose Rumford because of its high-voltage transmission lines, its natural gas pipeline, available land and a reasonable tax base.

Rinaldo said he first became aware of the project after Brian Doyle from Gov. Paul LePage’s office contacted him regarding some 70 acres on which the company had an option.

Doyle is a business development specialist for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. 

Rumford Town Manager John Madigan said the Board of Selectmen has met for about a year with the developer regarding several parcels in the Puiia Business Park.

“No details have been finalized,” he said. “We want to work with them. Not a lot of people have been banging down our door.”

Madigan said there are 13 lots in the business park. The road is partially built and the park has been “grubbed out.” The developer is interested in the lots closest to the power plant.

Discussing the premise of the project, the developer said Maine approved $75 million per year for 20 years to create a $1.5 billion fund for services that would reduce natural gas costs and increase natural gas supply in the state.

“We’re trying to change legislation to allow us to get an award through the Energy Cost Reduction Act to be able to build this facility and provide the service back to the state of Maine,” the developer said.

“It’s the only facility of this type that’s being planned for the state and the only facility, to our knowledge, that’s trying to get ECRA funds for this purpose,” he said.

“We’re getting pretty close, and it’s a good project,” the developer said. He also noted, “Without ECRA funds, we probably won’t build the facility. The reason for saying this is that it puts the state on the spot.”

“I think it’s a good fit for what we have in Rumford and will add an awful lot to the tax base,” Sen. John Patrick, D-Rumford, said Friday. “I’m hoping it will all come together.”

If all goes well, the developer said construction could begin in late summer 2016 and construction would last two years.

The developer said he will hold a community forum in August prior to beginning the permit process.

Patrick and Rinaldo both noted that a project like this might lead to other business development in the Rumford area.

“You have to have something to start the ball rolling. Something this big happens, I think it can lead to some really good things,” Patrick said.

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