from Richmond-Times Dispatch A proposed biomass-burning power plant drew strong backing from officials and residents from economically distressed Southside Virginia speaking before the Virginia State Corporation Commission today.  "This will be a great opportunity" for Halifax County, said Del. James E. Edmunds II, R-South Boston.

Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative wants to build a 49.95-megawatt “green” power plant at South Boston.

The plant will serve the co-op's 145,000 customer-owners.

The $175-million  plant will burn waste wood that would otherwise decay and produce methane, a greenhouse gas, co-op officials said.

"It's a natural fit for us," said Mike Sexton, executive director of the Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County. "We're in the wood basket."

The electric co-op hopes to have the plant to start generating electricity in 2013.

The plant's construction will employ 300 to 400 workers. The plant will need up to 40 full-time employees to operate it.

The biomass power plant will supply 6.5  percent of Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative's energy requirements by 2014, enough to serve the equivalent of 10,000 customers.

The renewable energy plant will rely on wood waste -– or “slash” -– on forest floors for fuel, which is  abundant in the region.