Vineyard's anticipated residential growth may have stalled because of last year's mortgage crisis and a still-sputtering national economy, but that doesn't mean development isn't coming to the town west of Orem.

At the town's Feb. 4 Planning Commission meeting, Bob Looper, president of Summit Vineyard, a partner in the $330 million Lake Side Power Plant, submitted plans for the multi-million dollar construction of the second phase of the natural-gas-fired turbine plant. The plant's applications for conditional use permits and site plan approval will come before the Vineyard Town Council during its meeting Thursday.

The Lake Side Power Plant is part of a network that provides power to 1.6 million people in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and California.

The Vineyard site, located on 20 acres of former Geneva Steel property, was initially conceived and developed with the second stage to be part of the original construction, or as a planned expansion, he said.

"It's really a duplicate of phase one," Looper said.

Looper didn't cite an official price tag for the planned doubling in size and electrical power input of the plant that currently generates an average of 535 megawatts -- enough power to serve about 500 typical homes per day.

In a 2008 draft report from Rocky Mountain Power, the cost for phase two of the project was estimated at $630 million, not including the cost of the land or preparing the site. Pacificorp, which owns Rocky Mountain Power, is a partner in the project.

Vineyard town clerk Dan Wright added that material costs have risen significantly since the initial plant became operational in September of 2007.

"Obviously, funding for a large project like this is very difficult to come by," Looper said.

It has not been decided yet when construction on phase two of the Lake Side plant would begin, he said.

Plant officials said previously that the Vineyard location and a plant in Mona were potential expansion sites due to the growing demand for electricity along the Wasatch Front and in the Intermountain Region.

Looper said though phase two of the Lake Side plant is of a similar design, technology has gotten more efficient resulting in a phase two turbine that would be at least 5 percent more energy efficient than the one currently operating at the plant.

He added that as in phase one of the plant's construction, company officials would again aim to use 50 percent of the phase two project labor force from the local area.

"Overall it took one million hours of labor," Looper said.

David Robbins, chairman of the Vineyard town Planning Commission, said commissioners unanimously forwarded a favorable recommendation to the town council regarding Looper's application for a conditional use permit and site plan approval for phase two.

"It's already zoned for that use, there's one up and running and we'll welcome a second [phase]," he said.

A phase two of the plant would generate some revenue for the town in property tax and building permits, Robbins said. He said the plant's officials and owners have been good neighbors.

Robbins said a few neighbors had complained of the plant's steam plume blocking the sun during the winter months. There were also concerns about how the proposed expansion would impact a trail that runs through the communities of Orem, Lindon and Vineyard. Plant officials have agreed to allow the trail to continue across the property, he said.

"I don't think it's a bad thing," Robbins said, citing the area's need for electric power and the plant's comparatively clean and environmentally friendly operation in comparison to former industries on the same soil.

"I said, 'Go back 30 years when I was a kid, and look at what the steel plant put on into the air,'" Robbins said.

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