Construction and Start-Ups of Plants in Rocky Mountains Reaches $5.5 Billion in 2008

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With the recession currently rocking the nation's economy, the Rocky Mountain region, which includes the states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, remained steady and strong throughout 2008, continuing to invest in the construction and startups of several new plants. Total spending of more than $5.5 billion brought 59 new plants through the construction phase and into operation in the 2008 calendar year. Of these new plants, 20 were involved in the Power Industry, accounting for 49%, or $2.7 billion, of the $5.5 billion spent.

Newmont Mining Corporation (Denver, Colorado) completed construction last spring on a 200-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Battle Mountain, Nevada, that cost $620 million to construct. Glacier Wind Energy LLC (San Francisco, California) recently completed a 105-MW windfarm last month in Ethridge, Montana, and is currently constructing Phase II, which is expected to be complete by next year. An individual investment of $178 million was allotted for each of the two phases.

Last year was exceptionally good for the Rocky Mountains, with the region becoming home to 62 new plants that cost an astonishing $8.8 billion to construct. The money spent in 2007 was a drastic increase compared to previous years. Overall, there tends to be a fairly consistent pattern of spending, balanced with the number of plants added to the region each year.

In 2005, over $3.5 billion was spent bringing 72 new plants into operation, and 65 plants started up in 2006, costing a total of $4 billion to construct. As the New Year approaches, the economic future may seem uncertain, but looking back at the large number of new plants that the region has consistently added each year would suggest a reasonably prosperous year ahead for the region.

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