This rendering from Nacero’s website depicts the $6 billion manufacturing facility the company wants to build on the site of a former coal mine in the Nanticoke area that will produce gasoline made from natural gas and renewable natural gas.
                                 Submitted Photo

This rendering from Nacero’s website depicts the $6 billion manufacturing facility the company wants to build on the site of a former coal mine in the Nanticoke area that will produce gasoline made from natural gas and renewable natural gas.

Submitted Photo

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NANTICOKE — Marc Heissan, director of strategic development for Nacero Inc., said the company has been working on building a strong understanding on what it will take to develop the chosen location in Luzerne County for the past two years.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, but we will know more once we start construction on our Texas facility next year,” Heissan said.

The Texas-based company on Friday announced plans to build a $6 billion manufacturing facility on the site of a former coal mine that will produce clean gasoline made from natural gas and renewable natural gas and generate thousands of jobs.

The company said the project will bring thousands of jobs and produce tens of thousands of barrels per day of low and zero life-cycle carbon footprint gasoline made from natural gas and renewable natural gas.

Sen. John Yudichak Friday said Nacero’s decision to invest $6 billion and create nearly 4,000 new jobs represents the single largest economic development investment in the history of Luzerne County.

“And, it further represents an environmental transformation of Newport Township and Nanticoke City through the reclamation of mine scarred lands to pave the way for a revolutionary manufacturing facility that will change the global market for gasoline by reducing the carbon footprint in the transportation sector by 50%,” said Yudichak, I-Swoyersville.

But the process is just in the early stages, Yudichak said, noting that much work remains to be done to get the project up and running.

Heissan said the financial markets are looking for large scale projects like Nacero’s that involve a proven technology, have a ready market and meet an important need.

“Our affordable gasoline will be usable in today’s cars and trucks without modification, and we are addressing one of, if not the most, pressing problems in the world today,” Heissan said. “We will have a better idea as to the timing of construction in Pennsylvania after we begin work on our first project in Texas next year.”

Heissan went on to explain how Nacero chose Luzerne County as its second project site.

“NEPA has so much to offer, and the community has been very welcoming over the last two years given our ability to clean up mine scarred land and create an environmentally and economically robust solution,” Heissan said. “A highly skilled work force and cooperative landowners like Earth Conservancy have made Luzerne County one of the most attractive locations in the east.”

Heissan said local leaders like U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser and Yudichak have helped guide Nacero through the selection process given its ability to bring jobs to the region, along with an environmentally superior transportation fuel.

“This property has been sitting idle for many years and now can create economic growth for the region,” Heissan said.

Colleen Connelly, spokesperson for the stale Department of Environmental Protection, issued a statement about the project status.

”The Department of Environmental Protection has not received any permit applications from Nacero regarding this project, so we cannot comment at this time.”

Yudichak said Friday’s announcement was about “site selection” for the project.

“Permit phase, construction phase and all other phases of the project will all unfold over the next several months and years,” Yudichak said. “We are just at the beginning of a long process. There will be many, many more meetings and public events as the process unfolds.”

Yudichak said Nacero has met with the Governor’s Office, the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, who offered a quote in the news release, and the Governor’s Action Team.

“With DCED as the lead state agency, a multi-state agency work group has been formed to help Nacero navigate permits and all other state regulatory requirements to construct the facility in Luzerne County,” Yudichak said. “Obviously, there will be many questions — it is a project a significant magnitude. The company just introduced themselves to the community, and is open to any and all inquiries from the public and the media.”

Yudichak said there will be 3,500 construction jobs available to build the massive facility, with all building trades involved. Once completed, Yudichak said the Nacero facility will employ 450 high tech jobs that will pay $85,000 per year.

Dennis Davin, DCED Secretary, said Nacero’s commitment to locate their newest, innovative multi-billion-dollar plant in the commonwealth will bring thousands of new jobs to Luzerne County.

“Nacero could have located anywhere, but chose Pennsylvania as a result of its ingenuity, talented workforce and strong economy,” Davin said.

“This news is good for our economy and our environment,” said Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston. “We can have good-paying jobs and a cleaner environment at the same time with this investment.”

Act 66 of 2020

This historic investment is made possible in large part due to a new state law introduced by Kaufer. His House Bill 732 was approved by the state House and Senate in 2020 and signed into law by the governor as Act 66 of 2020.

“Rep. Kaufer and I have been partners on Act 66 from start to finish,” Yudichak said. “Sen. Jake Corman and the Senate Republican leadership staff along with the Governor’s senior legislative staff were all instrumental in getting Act 66 and its recent upgrade in this year’s budget done.”

Kaufer’s said his law established the Local Resources Manufacturing Tax Credit to spur the kind of investments like the one announced Friday. The program provides a tax credit of 47 cents per unit of dry natural gas purchased by an eligible company and the total amount of tax credits to be provided to all applicants is capped at a little more than $26.6 million. The tax credit program is applicable to dry natural gas bought beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

Kaufer said Nacero plans to begin work on the new facility in 2022-23. The project is estimated to be completed sometime in 2026-27.

Labor support

Tony Seiwell, business manager of the Laborers’ District Council of Eastern Pennsylvania, issued a statement on Nacero’s announcement, the first facility associated with the Local Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit:

“This announcement is the culmination of historic, bipartisan efforts to attract new economic investment and good jobs to Pennsylvania through the Local Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit with support from labor, legislators, and business,” Seiwell said. “With a realistic energy approach like the one of Nacero’s Luzerne County plant, we do not have to choose between good jobs and the environment. One of the most historic parts of the legislation was its inclusion of prevailing wage. This project will create over 3,500 prevailing wage construction jobs during the four years of construction and hundreds of permanent jobs.”

Seiwell said Nacero is an environmentally conscious company that is not only embracing Pennsylvania’s natural gas resources, but leading the way for natural gas to lower carbon emissions even more than it already has.

“It is development like this that is going to move our local economy and local workers forward in Luzerne County and across the Commonwealth,” Seiwell said.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.