City of Graham continues discussions with Plug Power

The city of Graham and Plug Power, a company which develops hydrogen fuel cell systems, are in the process of negotiating an agreement for the supply of effluent water. The water will be used in the company’s green hydrogen production facility being proposed in Young County.

Plug Power is working to establish 500 tons of production, which encompasses 13 operating plants, including the one being proposed for Young County. Graham City Manager Brandon Anderson spoke Thursday at a city council meeting regarding the negotiations and said the city will meet with the company this week to discuss the agreement.

“We’re actually awaiting another meeting with them, another teleconference and that’ll be next Wednesday (Jan. 12),” Anderson said Thursday. “If you’re not aware, Plug Power is a energy company that is looking at building a site outside of the city limits of Graham. (...) one thing that the council wanted to clear up was the conversations that the city of Graham has had with Plug Power is the negotiation to buy effluent water which is from our water plant. We produce 600,000 gallons of effluent water a day currently, and it just goes into Salt Creek and so they are looking at buying about half of what we produce on a daily basis. And then the other conversations we were having with them is how to get that product to them, whether we would pipe it to them or sell it to them for bulk transport, but we’ve been discussing piping that to a property outside of the city limits on (FM) 209. Past that, we’ve had no negotiation or conversation about where that property is or anything to do with the negotiation of the location of that plant.”

During the Thursday, Dec. 23, council meeting Anderson said through the agreement the city will sell the company effluent water and the company could pay for upgrades at the city sewer plant.

For the rest of the story, see the Jan. 12 edition of The Graham Leader.