Groundbreaking event puts $890M plant in perspective

LORDSTOWN — The concept of a billion dollars is hard for most people to wrap their heads around.

So is the idea that you can take an invisible substance such as natural gas and turn it into another invisible thing – electricity.

But thanks to speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony today for the $890 million Lordstown Energy Center power plant on Henn Parkway in the Lordstown Industrial Park, those in attendance got a better picture.

Bill Siderewicz, president of Clean Energy Future, who developed the project, used two glass jars and a paper “factory” to illustrate the gas, the new Lordstown Energy Center and the electricity it will generate.

“This is the beauty of what we bring. We take a product you can’t see. We put it into a high-tech black box that’s managed and put together by Siemens, and we produce something you can’t see. If we were in Vegas, people would say, ‘That must be a magic trick.’

“But we are not in Vegas. We re in beautiful Lordstown. And this is what we do,” Siderewicz said.

For the complete story, read Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com