Johnson Commends Natural Gas Energy Infrastructure Groundbreaking At Portsmouth Site

COLUMBUS— State Senator Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) commends the groundbreaking of a $33 billion natural gas powerplant at the Portsmouth Site on March 20th.

"Since 2011, I have encouraged natural gas usage and increasing Ohio’s energy generation," said Senator Johnson. "It was a terrible mistake to tear down the coal plants in the first place which were burning coal more cleanly and efficiently than global standards. If China can burn our coal, why can’t we?"

In February, negotiations between Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and Japan's economic and trade minister, Ryosei Akazawa resulted in Japan committing to $550 billion in investments in key sectors of the American economy. The Trump Administration later announced that, as part of this deal, a $33 billion dollar natural gas power facility will be built near Portsmouth. 

“After the Korean War, my own father once worked at this site, along with many other families from Portsmouth. It was how our community made its living,” added Senator Johnson. “This will have a huge impact for local long-term job creation and go a long way in relieving the current energy crunch we find ourselves in.”

The Portsmouth Natural Gas plant is estimated to produce 9.2 gigawatts of power, enough to power millions of Ohio homes and making it the largest natural gas power plant in the world. 

For more information on the US-Japan natural gas deal, view the Department of Commerce's fact sheet here.

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