Sep. 27--GREENVILLE -- The company behind a giant electric generating plant planned for north of Greenville has until Thursday to meet a city-set deadline to start construction.

Although it appeared unlikely as of the end of last week that work would begin in the next few days on the Cobisa-Greenville plant, the approaching time limit does not necessarily mean the project itself is dead.

Representatives with Cobisa were not able to be reached for comment Friday, although officials with the City of Greenville remain hopeful.

"The city is still talking with Cobisa about this," said Director of Public Works Massoud Ebrahim.

Mayor Tom Oliver also said the city had recently met with Cobisa about plans for the plant.

"We still believe it would be a wonderful project for all concerned," Oliver said.

Seven years ago, officials with Cobisa announced plans to build a 1,750 megawatt natural gas-fired electric generating plant on 104 acres off of U.S. Highway 69 just north of the Greenville city limits.

In May 2008, the Greenville City Council approved significant changes to the original Industrial District Agreement (IDA) with the Cobisa Corporation. The amendment postponed the date when the proposed project might be annexed into the city limits, set up a Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) plan and altered the specifics for how much water the company would purchase from the City of Greenville for the plant. It also set a deadline of Oct. 1, 2009 for the project to begin.

In March of this year, the GEUS board of trustees voted to enter into an agreement with Cobisa, calling for the local electric utility system to provide transmission services to Cobisa, allowing the company's proposed Greenville plant, whenever it may be built, to hook up with the statewide power grid.

The plant was originally to be annexed into Greenville upon the start of commercial operations, raising the city's property tax roll by $500 million.

Oliver said the company may be having difficulties obtaining financing with the current economy for what may have grown to a project costing closer to $1 billion.

The project is still listed as pending on the company's web site and Ebrahim noted how Cobisa recently re-applied for water and air permits for the project, indicating the plant is still on the drawing board at least.

"We just have to wait and see how it develops during the next couple of weeks or so," Ebrahim said.

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