Council Vote Comes After Clean Energy Company Shrinks Footprint, Defers Solar Plans and Expands Community Benefits to Reflect Parish Council, Community Input
VACHERIE, La. (Feb. 21, 2024) – DG Fuels, a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) company proposing construction of a $4 billion clean energy complex in St. James Parish, won parish council support for its $26 million Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) at the St. James Parish Council meeting in Vacherie today. Promoting clean energy infrastructure investments that also enhance community prosperity is a priority for DG Fuels.
The council’s approval of the CBA is an important first step toward DG Fuels delivering on its local commitments, but DG Fuels will continue to engage with its neighbors and local leaders at every step of the process as it seeks approval for the overall project. Once the project is approved and DG Fuels makes its Final Investment Decision, the company will contribute $9.3 million in up-front community investments and another $16.75 million in community benefits over a multiyear period, as outlined in the agreement.
Today’s council vote follows DG Fuels’ presentation of the CBA to the council in January, during which councilmembers provided feedback and sought revisions to the agreement. Under the new CBA, $5 million in dedicated funding for bordering neighborhoods expands to include both the Moonshine and Baytree communities.
In addition to revising the CBA, DG Fuels has responded to other community and council requests, including reducing the overall size of the project by 525 acres and retaining the majority of existing farmland, eliminating the second border with Moonshine on its western edge, moving the fuel complex to a more central location, enclosing bagasse storage and deferring solar power equipment for the foreseeable future.
“Listening to what our neighbors and St. James Parish leaders want and need in a clean energy neighbor will make both the CBA and the overall project better because our success is shared,” said Michael Darcy, DG Fuels’ CEO. “Now, the view outside many of our neighbors’ windows will still include sugar cane. Instead of an energy complex, we want people to see DG Fuels’ local investments, our accountability and environmental action.”
DG Fuels’ proposed clean fuel complex uses innovative technology to turn locally-sourced sugar cane trash and bagasse into sustainable aviation fuel that can be used in place of conventional jet fuel to reduce commercial flight CO2 emissions dramatically. DG Fuels’ facility will have fewer atmospheric emissions than a standard U.S. hospital, no fossil fuel emissions, no discharge into the Mississippi River and will give farmers a profitable alternative to burn harvesting, which will make the air in St. James cleaner with DG Fuels than without it.
To receive updates on DG Fuels progress, visit https://louisiana.dgfuels.com/.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Katie McKeogh
504-442-4074
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