COLUMBUS — American Municipal Power yesterday announced it has partnered with Standard Energy, an affiliate of Standard Solar, to develop up to 300 megawatts of new solar energy generation capacity.

The agreement between the two companies is for 30 years and is reported to yield one of the largest groups of solar electricity facility developments in the country, according to a joint press release from the two companies. The power generated by this venture will be offered to AMP’s 128 member utilities in six states which include Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia.

AMP’s announcement left many in the local community wondering what, if anything, this means to the possible development of AMP’s property in Letart Falls into a natural gas-powered power plant.

Perry Varnadoe, Meigs County economic development director, said AMP developing its energy portfolio to include more solar energy has nothing to do with the company deliberating the development of a natural gas plant in Letart Falls.

“The Meigs project is very much alive and we’re working very hard to bring it to the county,” Varnadoe said. “We continue to have meaningful discussions with AMP about the alternative project (natural gas) in the county and hope to have a decision from them likely late this summer.”

Varnadoe said a rough figure concerning how much a natural gas plant would generate is around 500-700 MW. As for the 300 MW solar development project, Varnadoe was not surprised, saying he knew this was a project AMP had been working on for some time to expand their power portfolio.

AMP owns over 1,000 acres in the Letart Falls area along the Ohio River, making it a prime location for a coal-fired power plant though there is a major hurdle in converting the site into a plant powered by natural gas — namely, no natural gas line.

This spring US Congressman Charlie Wilson reported he spoke to President Barack Obama about funding to place a gas line in the area and later received a phone call from U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu saying the $17 million for the project will be the top appropriation from the U.S. Department of Energy in an upcoming spending bill. Varnadoe said Congress would likely act on this spending bill this fall.